Memphis Police’s vaunted Scorpion unit under scrutiny after Tyre Nichols’ killing.
. Such units did not have enough senior staff members training the new officers, he said, adding that that was concerning to him.LeSure said former colleagues still at the department have told him that the Scorpion unit, which launched after he retired, is known for having a “zero tolerance” policy on crime — which he said meant the officers “do what they can to arrest people.
Chelsea Glass, an organizer with Decarcerate Memphis, which advocates for reform of the criminal justice system, said Scorpion was a “rebranding” of a common police tactic: a street crime-fighting team that relied on low-level traffic stops as pretexts to find violent criminals and weapons. Keedran Franklin, a Memphis community organizer, said Scorpion was like other specialized police units — including the county-run Multi-Agency Gang Unit — in that the officers seemed to stoke fear and distrust by the way they confronted people.
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