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What Is the Memphis Police SCORPION Unit?


The Memphis police officers charged with the brutal murder of Tire Nichols are part of a specialized unit set up more than a year ago to help stem violence from rising in the city.

The unit – called SCORPION, or Street Crime Operations Unit to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods – is designed as a team of 40 officers to be deployed in neighboring areas. , focusing on crime hotspots. Officers often operate vehicles without license plates, block traffic, seize weapons and make hundreds of arrests.

The unit is such an important part of the city’s crime-fighting strategy that Mayor Jim Strickland introduced it in his State of the City speech a year ago, at a time when the city was counting record murder.

Now, that unit has been involved in a deadly encounter that Sheriff Cerelyn Davis, who formed the team in the fall of 2021, called “disgusting, reckless, and inhumane.” Five officers have been charged in Mr. Nichols’ death and Sheriff Davis has ordered a review of SCORPION.

On Friday, Antonio Romanucci, the attorney for the Nichols family, said the units that flood neighborhoods under the guise of fighting crime end up oppressing young people and people of color, often operating without unpunished. He said the family is calling on the Memphis police department to disband the SCORPION unit immediately.

“How can the community trust a SCORPION unit?” he say. “The intention is good. The end result is failure.”

Specialized crime-fighting teams have long been subject to scrutiny in cities across the country because they often target people of color and use tactics such as pretexted stops, in where officers can stop someone for a minor infraction and then take the opportunity to search. more serious crimes.

Memphis Police reported in an initial statement that officers stopped Mr Nichols on suspicion of reckless driving on January 7 and a “confrontation occurred” as officers approached the vehicle. . Mr. Nichols was taken to hospital in critical condition and died three days later.

An independent autopsy found Mr Nichols “bleed heavily from the brutal beatings,” according to preliminary results released by his family’s attorney, who said Nichols told officers he just want to go home.

Ben Crump, the family’s attorney, said the SCORPION unit had used excessive force in the past, adding that a man had reported being confronted by the unit – and threatened. with an officer’s gun – while he went to get pizza just a few days before. Mr. Nichols’ death. Crump said another man, 66, also described being brutally abused by the unit and had photos of his injuries.

“We believe this is a pattern and a practice, and Tire died because that pattern and practice was not controlled by the people who were supposed to test it,” Mr. Crump said.

He called on federal officials to investigate such teams and their tactics.

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