ALERT: Memphis Disbands Police Unit After Killing Black Man Tyre Nichols
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
MEMPHIS, USA (Worthy News) – The Memphis police chief has disbanded the U.S. city’s so-called Scorpion unit after five of its officers beat Black man Tyre Nichols, who later died from his injuries.
The decision came after Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn “CJ” Davis met with unit members Saturday “to discuss the path forward for the department and the community in the aftermath of the tragic death of Tyre Nichols,” police confirmed in a statement.
Memphis’ Scorpion unit comprises dozens of officers who target violent offenders. Yet the case was unique in a way as all five police officers charged with his murder are Black, something underreported by several media outlets.
And it was not immediately clear how police would now tackle serious crime in the area.
Several U.S. cities face police shortages after “defund the police” calls from activists and sometimes violent ‘Black Lives Matter’ protests over reported police brutality incidents.
The move reverses an earlier decision by police director Davis, who said she would keep the unit intact.
However, on Saturday, Davis made clear that she listened to Nichols’s relatives, community leaders, and uninvolved officers in making the decision.
PROTESTS AND PRAYERS
The decision also followed protests. And residents brought flowers and stuffed toys to the street corner where last week’s beating occurred as some stood together and prayed.
“It is in the best interest of all to permanently deactivate the Scorpion unit,” Davis stresses in published remarks. She said the unit’s officers “agree unreservedly” with the step.
The unit comprises three teams of about 30 officers who target violent offenders in areas beset by high crime. It had been inactive since Nichols’s January 7 bloody arrest at a traffic stop.
In an interview Friday, Davis said she would not shut down a unit if a few officers commit “some egregious act” because she needs that unit to continue to work.
“The whole idea that the Scorpion unit is a bad unit, I just have a problem with that,” Davis said. “I’m hurt, I’m disgusted, I’m angry.”
It comes one day after the release of a shocking video that showed the violent arrest of Nichols earlier this month.
All five former officers involved in Nichols’ arrest, who has since been charged with second-degree murder in his death, were part of the Scorpion unit.
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