Memphis' Botched Effort to Stop Violent Crime
Before we can begin to process why some Memphis police officers beat a man so savagely that it ultimately led to his death, we need to go all the way back to the city’s ongoing challenges with violent crime. Nothing in the backstory will justify the viciousness of the attack on Tyre Nichols and the lackluster emergency response to his injuries. It will only be used to create a picture of what was supposed to happen and how it went terribly wrong.
In November, The Atlantic published an article titled “The Murders in Memphis Aren’t Stopping.” The author noted, “Memphis set a record for murders in 2021, with 346—breaking the previous record of 332, set in 2020. According to FBI data, Memphis was the most violent metropolitan area in the United States in 2020.”
The article also pointed out a conundrum that many other cities face: how to stem violent crime in predominantly Black communities without profiling and over-policing. In other words, how do you keep such communities safe from criminals and overzealous police?
The Memphis Police Department’s solution was Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods, better known as SCORPION. The 50-person unit launched in November 2021 and positioned itself in high-crime areas throughout Memphis (based on the amount of 911 calls received). The unit included forces dedicated to gang-related incidents, car thefts and crime suppression.
“It is important to us that each member of the community feels like they can go to the grocery store or live in their house without their house being shot, or the shootings that are frequently on the roads or streets. So, for that reason we launched the SCORPION Unit,” Memphis Police Department Assistant Chief Shawn Jones said at the time.
Almost immediately, SCORPION seemed to be providing some results. In the first three weeks of the program, the unit made 125 felony arrests and recovered 95 weapons. Yet, it still wasn’t enough to stem the tide of violent crime in Memphis. Politicians and residents voiced their concerns last September, after 19-year-old Ezekiel Kelly went on a shooting spree that left three people dead and four people injured.
Michelle McKissack, who is currently a candidate for mayor of Memphis, tweeted after the Kelly shootings in September, “What is happening in Memphis?! We need to hold an emergency summit of ALL types of leadership to see how we are going to address this lawlessness! It must stop!”
Stevie Moore, a community activist in Memphis, told a local news reporter, “We’ve got to stop this madness. Because we are pointing the fingers and my question to everybody is… ask your own self… What are you doing?
Kelly had a criminal history that included attempted first-degree murder, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment. For some reason, though, he was out on the streets.
Was it the frustration of not making a substantial difference in crime that led some of the SCORPION officers toward the violence caught on video during the Tyre Nichols’ incident? Or was it a lack of structure in the unit from the very beginning? An unnamed former Memphis police officer told CBS News that training for SCORPION unit members involved three days of PowerPoint presentations and one day each of firing range practice and suspect apprehension review.
Other incidents of SCORPION officers using excessive force are being reviewed. Unconfirmed reports of officers pushing and cursing at residents have been noted. Soon after Tyre Nichols’ death became public, another Memphis resident accused the same officers involved in that incident of making up false charges against him to justify their behavior, which he claims involved assaulting him. His lawyer said that the SCORPION unit had become a '“vigilante squad."
“We can do better. We can have better policing,” Robert Spence, the man’s attorney, said, adding that he believes the run-in happened simply because his client was Black.
The Memphis Police Department deactivated the SCORPION unit after videos of the incident with Nichols were released. A statement from the MPD noted that, "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 for all impacted."
With some officers charged with second-degree murder and others being relieved of their duties, steps are being taken to right the wrongs that were committed. None of that will bring back Nichols, but it will hopefully keep another person from facing a deadly beating at the hands of those who are supposed to protect and serve. As for what to do about heightened violent crime in Memphis, that appears to be an ongoing problem with no sustainable solution in sight.