Tyre Nichols case highlights US police recruiting and retention crisis

No experienced supervisors attended the scene of Nichols's deadly arrest and Memphis's police department is hundreds of officers short of its target strength

Beyond the beating, kicking, cursing and pepper-spraying, the video of Tyre Nichols's deadly arrest at the hands of young Memphis police officers is just as notable for what's missing - any experienced supervisors showing up to stop them.

That points to a dangerous confluence of trends that Memphis's police chief acknowledged have dogged the department as the city became one of the nation's murder hotspots: a chronic shortage of officers, especially supervisors, increasing numbers of police quitting and a struggle to bring in qualified recruits.