the memphis police department has permanently disbanded the s.c.o.r.p.i.o.n. street unit which are part of the unit that all five police officers were part of. this as peaceful protests occurred across the country this weekend. nick, what can you tell us about this decision to disband this unit. it came as part of the beating of tyre nichols. it was launched in 2021 and praised by the city leadership, and in the address to the city in 2022, the mayor of memphis, jim strickland pointed to the more than 500 arrest, 566 arrests from this unit, and 390 felonies and more than $100,000 cash seized, and this unit which was praised by the city leaders over the weekend was permanently
scorpion unit? absoluteabsolutely. we heard over the weekend that this unit has been permanently disbanded. scorpion unit, what a moniker to give a police unit. it stands for street crime operations to restore peace in our neighborhoods. they were launched in late 2021 and heralded by city leadership. in january of 2022, the mayor of memphis, jim strickland, praising this unit saying that it led to 566 arrests, 390 of them were felonies. he said just in a matter of a couple of months being active, they had seized about $100,000 in cash. but we were hearing at that even though the police chief on friday told us that she has no other evidence that members of this unit had engamig other evidence that members of this unit had engaaged in similr activity, i was told by benjamin crump that tomorrow he plans on hosting a press conference with a 66-year-old man who claims that he was assaulted by members of the scorpion unit so this is just the beginning and the fallout of the investigation
s.c.o.r.p.i.o.n. s early success claiming in the fall of 2021 through january of 2022 the unit made 566 arrests, seize md their 250 weapons, 270 vehicles, and over $100,000 in cash. but in i brief lifetime there s also a history of tension between s.c.o.r.p.i.o.n. officer and the community. attorneys for tyre s family says the unit goes around in unmarked cars and is sometimes aggressive. family attorney ben crump laid one account that a local man described to media outlets with his contact with the s.c.o.r.p.i.o.n. unit. there s a brother who says four to five days before this happened to tyre that same s.c.o.r.p.i.o.n. unit confronted him while he was in his car going to get pizza, and he said they used all kind of profanity against him, they threw him on the ground, talking about where
to reduce gun violence, to be visible in communities, and to also impact the rise in the crime, basically out of an outcry from the community. we had record numbers in 2021, 346 homicides. reporter: chief davis says the scorpion unit at least initially had great success. last year was the first year in a long time we had reductions. reporter: the mayor s touted the early success saying between its inception in the fall of 2021 through january of 2022, the unit made 566 arrests, seized more than 250 weapons, 270 vehicles, and over $100,000 in cash. but in its brief lifetime, there s already a history of tension between scorpion officers and the community. attorneys for tyre nichols family say the unit goes around in unmarked cars and is sometimes unnecessarily aggressive. family attorney ben crump relayed one account that a local
a specialized unit of the memphis police created by the current chief in the fall of 2021. with a promo video accompanying its launch. chief davis told our don lemon they needed a unit to address a surge of violent crimes in memphis. this is one of three teams whose primary responsibility is to reduce gun violence, to be visible in communities, and to also impact the rise in the crime. basically out of an outcry from the community, we had record numbers in 2021, 346 homicides. reporter: chief davis said the scorpion unit had great success. last year, it was the first year in a long time that we have reductions. reporter: the mayor s office touted the early success saying that between the inception in the fall of 2021 through 2022, the unit made 566 arrests and