MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Members of a Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission have decided that one of the officers charged in killing Tyre Nichols can keep his license for now, but he cannot work for a law enforcement agency.

Tadarrius Bean is one of five former Memphis accused of beating Nichols following a traffic stop in January.

FILE – In this image from a video released and partially redacted by the city of Memphis, Tenn., Tyre Nichols lies on the ground during a brutal attack by Memphis Police officers, Jan. 7, 2023, in Memphis. Documents released Thursday, March 2, showed that two Memphis Fire Department emergency medical technicians who were fired and had their licenses suspended for failing to give aid to Nichols for 19 minutes while he struggled with injuries from being brutally beaten by police did not check his vital signs or perform other basic medical examinations. (City of Memphis via AP, File)

Earlier this year, Bean was terminated by the Memphis Police Department for policy violations, including excessive and unnecessary force, duty to intervene, and personal conduct. MPD also requested Bean’s decertification, meaning he would not be able to be a law enforcement officer in Tennessee.

During a hearing in Nashville Thursday, Bean’s attorney asked the commission to consider putting the decertification proceedings on pause pending the outcome of the criminal case against him.

► Tyre Nichols and Memphis Police: What we Know

“Where basically his certification goes into an inactive status. he cannot be a law enforcement officer, he cannot work for a law enforcement agency,” said Timothy Taylor. “If the other legal proceedings conclude positively, then it would be my job to try to obtain his reinstatement to the Memphis Police Department. If I’m successful there, then we could come back to the POST commission, and the underlying grounds for the request for the decertification would not exist.”

In that case, Bean could continue to be a police officer. However, if Bean is convicted, he would be subject to official decertification. The panel did not oppose the idea.

Left: Justin Smith, top center: Emmitt Martin III, top right: Desmond Mills Jr., center left: Demetrius Haley, right bottom: Tadarrius Bean (Photos provided by Shelby County Sheriff’s Office)

Three officers charged with Nichols’s death have already been decertified, and a fourth voluntarily surrendered his certification.

Now all five are turning their attention to the battle in criminal court. Their attorneys are scheduled to go before a judge on Friday to discuss what evidence and records can be released to the public before the trial.

MPD also requested the decertification of two more officers on the scene the night Tyre Nichols was killed. A 7th officer who was fired has not been publicly named.