Protesters block traffic as they rally against the fatal police assault of Tyre Nichols, in Venice, California. AFP
The brutal killing of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols in Memphis at the hands of five law enforcement officers has once again thrown the spotlight on police brutality in the United States. There are growing calls for reforms in the police after the incident.
On Saturday, the Memphis Police permanently deactivated the Scorpion unit to which the five officers, who have now been removed from service and also been charged with second-degree murder.
The bodycam footage from the five cops — Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr and Justin Smith — revealed how they had mercilessly beaten the 29-year-old for three minutes, with his cries of ‘Mom, mom’ being his last words.
In a statement, the department said “it is in the best interest of all to permanently deactivate” the unit. “While the heinous actions of a few casts a cloud of dishonour on the title Scorpion, it is imperative that we, the Memphis Police Department, take proactive steps in the healing process for all impacted,” it added.
The family of Tyre Nichols welcomed the move with their lawyers saying it was “both appropriate and proportional to the tragic death of Tyre Nichols, and also a decent and just decision for all citizens of Memphis”.
But what exactly is the Scorpion Unit? How did it serve the people of Memphis? Here’s what we know.
The birth of Scorpion
The SCORPION unit, which stands for Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in Our Neighbourhoods, was launched in October 2021 with a focus on high-impact crimes such as car thefts and gang-related offences.
It was Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis who thought of the specialised unit as a response to the rising homicide numbers and speeding drivers in her hometown, just days after she took over the job. Memphis at the time was struggling with a high murder rate, with 346 murders in a city of about 600,000 people in 2020. The Federal Bureau of Investigation even ranked it as the most dangerous city in the US that year. In the next year, 2021, murders in the city rose by roughly five per cent.
In an effort to curb the rising crime, she then formed the Scorpion unit, comprising about 40 officers in four teams concentrating on crime hot spots. Each team has members focused on car theft, gang investigations and “crime suppression”.
Memphis Police Department officers attend a roll call briefing of the department’s SCORPION unit in Memphis, Tennessee. File image/Reuters
Success of Scorpion
Two months after it was launched, Mayor Jim Strickland championed the unit, calling it effective in fighting crime. It had made 566 arrests between October 2021 and January 2022. Of these, 390 were felony arrests and it had seized $103,000 in cash, 270 vehicles and 253 firearms.
In May 2022, Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis also lauded the special unit during a presentation to the City Council and noted that in crime reduction, the Scorpion unit was the lead.
Also read: How Tyre Nichols’ death is once again calling for a change in US police culture
Criticism of Scorpion
While the Scorpion unit has received praise for curbing crimes in Memphis, it has not been without criticism. Some activists had raised questions about the operations of the Scorpion unit before the attack on Nichols.
Stephen Downing, a retired Los Angeles deputy police chief and SWAT officer, told the New York Times that most specialised units such as the Scorpion tend to attract aggressive, rules-skirting officers, who bring in like-minded individuals and that’s where the problem arises.
The same New York Times report also said that the Scorpion unit hired young, inexperienced officers with a propensity for aggression. Their training consisted of three days of PowerPoint presentations, one day of criminal apprehension instruction and one day at the firing range.
In fact, one of the five officers now indicted in the Nichols’ murder case had a prior complaint against him.
An activist speaks in front of Atlanta Police Headquarters during a rally against the fatal police assault of Tyre Nichols, in Atlanta, Georgia. AFP
As the New York Times article said, “The name of the team gives the game away. You call a unit Scorpion because you want to instll fear, and because you want to attract police officers who enjoy being feared.”
There have been past complaints against the Scorpion unit — one just days before the Tyre Nichols incident. Cornell McKinney, speaking to WREG-TV, said that on 3 January, he too was targeted by the Scorpion unit. He alleges that the officers threatened to “blow his head off”, pointed a weapon at his head and accused him of carrying drugs. He added that he complained to the Memphis Police Department, but hadn’t heard from them since.
Hunter Dempster, an organiser with Decarcerate Memphis, a group pushing for accountability in the criminal justice system, said the unit’s main mission had appeared to be conducting mass pullovers in poor neighbourhoods that are home to many people of colour.
He described the officers in the unit as “violent” bullies and said many residents had also questioned why the unit often used unmarked vehicles, “regular cars that you would never think were police.”
Ben Crump, one of the lawyers for the Nichols family, said, “The behaviour of these units can morph into ‘wolf pack’ misconduct that takes away a person’s liberty or freedom to move, akin to a kidnapping.”
While people have welcomed the move of disbanding the unit — the future is uncertain and trust between law enforcement and the public is low. Will the city of Memphis be able to trust the police again? Will there be calm in the US? Only time will tell.
With inputs from agencies
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