MEMPHIS, Tenn. — President Joe Biden is expected to discuss police reform during his State of the Union address Tuesday.  

This comes after Tyre Nichols died after being beaten by police last month.

Community groups across the country are calling on Congress to act after the brutal beating. Memphis NAACP President Van Turner is not giving up hope.

“We need a reform act, and we need it now. That is true justice for Tyre, but [for] so many others who have died at the hands of officers who have done wrong." 

According to data collected by the Washington Post, police shot and killed more than 1,000 people nationwide last year.

African Americans who make up 13% of the U.S. population accounted for 27% of those shot and killed by officers in 2021.

To put things into perspective, that means Black people are twice as likely as white people to be shot and killed by police.

During Nichols’ funeral, Vice President Kamala Harris pushed for Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice and policing Act, a bill drafted by Democrats in 2021.

House speaker Kevin McCarthy is not expected to pick up any reform efforts that Democrats may push for.

The Nichols family, who will attend Biden’s State of the Union address, says something must happen soon.

Turner says his biggest fear is another tragedy.

“Every time we see the legislature or confess fail to pass these kinds of laws, it leads, or it results in a potential death, and they should understand that we’re watching, and the nation is watching, and the world is watching,” Turner said.

The State of the Union Address will air on Spectrum News Tuesday. It’s set to start at 8:55 p.m.

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the former White House press secretary for Donald Trump, will deliver the GOP response to Biden’s address.