The federal government is going to conduct a review of the Memphis Police Department’s policies on use of force, de-escalation, and specialized units like its now-disbanded SCORPION unit, a Department of Justice official said on Wednesday.
The examination was prompted by a request from Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland in January, following nationwide protests over the death of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols, a Black man who died several weeks earlier from wounds sustained during a beating by Memphis police.The DOJ has already opened a civil rights probe into Nichols’ death.The announcement comes ahead of a planned release of 20 hours of additional police footage on Wednesday, which was blocked at the last moment by a judge upon request of one of the officers charged in Nichols’ murder. The footage cannot be released until both prosecutors and defense lawyers review them – a process with an unclear time frame.The five officers facing charges are Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr.
