A Memphis police officer who hit Tyre Nichols with a stun gun during a traffic stop that preceded Nichols’ brutal beating by other officers had a prior record of minor infractions before he was fired, records released Monday showed.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — after an internal Memphis Police Department investigation showed he violated multiple department policies for his role in the Jan. 7 arrest of Nichols, who died in a hospital three days later.
Hemphill, who is white, was the third officer at the traffic stop that preceded the arrest but was not at the location where Nichols was beaten after he ran away. Records showed the negative “observed behavior report” was cited in a 2021 evaluation of Hemphill, who was hired in 2018 and was a member of the Scorpion unit, which has been disbanded by the department in the aftermath of Nichols’ death. The evaluation said Hemphill mishandled a call related to parental custodial issues, but no further details of the call were provided in the documents.
In a statement noted on the evaluation, one of Hemphill’s supervisors said he was a top performer on his shift who should take advantage of more training classes and could eventually provide leadership for junior officers.Five Memphis officers, all of whom are Black and were also were members of the Scorpion unit, have already been fired and charged with second-degree murder in Nichols’ death. One other officer has been suspended, but has not been identified.
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