![]() Nichols, 29, was pulled over by Memphis police officers on January 7 for suspected reckless driving, according to the department, when “a confrontation occurred” between officers and Nichols. These officers working in specialized units, you always need to make sure that the supervision is there and present,” she said.ĭavis also said the department was unaware of any evidence that members of the unit have previously engaged in similar behavior but said an investigation was underway.įamily attorney calls for unit’s disbandingįrom top left, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr., Demetrius Haley.įrom bottom left, Justin Smith and Tadarrius Bean Shelby County Criminal Justice System We train and we retrain these officers, just like specialized units around the country. “My observation is that, you know, we have several contributing factors. It was the first year in a long time that we had reductions.”Īsked if the death of Nichols was an indication of a failure of the unit, Davis told Lemon it’s “an indication that there is a gap somewhere in that unit.” So, this unit was put together and they had great success, believe it or not, last year. “You know, numbers of violent crimes, robberies, homicides, aggravated assaults, and this is one of three teams, whose primary responsibility is to reduce gun violence, to be visible in communities, and to also impact the rise in the crime,” Davis said on “CNN This Morning.” “We had record numbers in 2021, 346 homicides. ![]() Here's how family and officials who have seen the video of Tyre Nichols' arrest are responding to the footage In an interview with CNN’s Don Lemon on Friday, Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn “CJ” Davis acknowledged the unit was involved in the stop and said it was created due to “an outcry because of three years of violence in the city.” Police chief praised “great success” of SCORPION unitĪ Memphis police spokesperson confirmed that all five former police officers involved in the beating were members of the SCORPION unit. “The problems may lie in three key places: Did they receive specific, tailored training in de-escalation and how to manage events from spinning up too fast? In the selection process, beyond choosing officers who had records of making gun arrests, did they look at their civilian complaint history, use of force histories, and talk with their former supervisors about their fit for this kind of work? Finally, supervision,” he said. “These units are sent to areas where the police are tracking upticks in violent crime.”Īnd while he said “targeted deployments can have a good impact,” he noted there could be issues. Tactically, it was the logical move for a police department to create SCORPION,” Miller said. Tyre Nichols.”ĬNN’s chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst John Miller said the creation of the specialized unit made sense at the time. “The Memphis Police Department remains committed to serving our community and taking every measure possible to rebuild the trust that has been negatively affected by the death of Mr. “While the heinous actions of a few casts a cloud of dishonor on the title SCORPION, it is imperative that we, the Memphis Police Department, take proactive steps in the healing process of all those impacted,” the department said in a statement. And on Saturday – less than a day after video of SCORPION members beating Nichols was released to the public – the Memphis Police Department announced they will “permanently deactivate” the unit. Yet Strickland reversed his praise on Friday in the wake of Nichols’ death, saying the SCORPION unit was made inactive pending an independent review. Mayor Jim Strickland championed the unit, mentioning it during an address to the city in January 2022 and proudly pointing to 566 arrests – 390 of which were for felonies – and more than $103,000 in cash seized. When it was launched in 2021, the SCORPION unit – Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods – was heralded as a direct response to some of the city’s worst crime, with a focus on homicides, robberies, assaults and other felonies. ![]() All five of the former Memphis police officers charged with murder in the beating of Tyre Nichols were members of a recently created unit that was tasked with tackling rising crime in the city. ![]()
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