Memphis police on Saturday disbanded the ‘Scorpion Unit’ after the fatal beating of Tire Nichols.
Scorpion is short for “Street Crime Operations to Restore Peace to Our Neighborhood.”
The AP reported:
Memphis’ police chief on Saturday disbanded the city’s so-called Scorpion unit after some of its officers beat Tire Nichols to death, reversing an earlier statement that he would keep the unit intact.
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Police Director Cerelyn “CJ” Davis said she listened to Nichols’ relatives, community leaders and uninvolved officers in making the decision.
Speaking of the “heinous actions of a few” that have cast a “cloud of shame” on the unit, Davis said it is imperative that the department “take proactive steps in the healing process.”
“It is in everyone’s best interest that the Scorpion unit be permanently deactivated,” she said in a statement. She said the officers currently assigned to the unit had “unreservedly” agreed to the move.
The unit consists of three teams of around 30 officers who target violent offenders in high crime areas. He has been inactive since Nichols’ Jan. 7 arrest.
Authorities released body camera footage Friday night of five Memphis police officers beating driver Tire Nichols during a traffic stop.
Five former Memphis police officers were charged Thursday with second-degree murder and kidnapping in the death of a black driver.
Officers, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith – were fired Friday after driver Tire Nichols died following a violent confrontation during a Jan. 7 traffic stop.
Tire Nichols