Scorpion Unit Emerged as Memphis Police Pursued Get-Tough Strategy

Just a few days after the Scorpion unit was unveiled, one local television report noted that the Memphis police credited it with making more than 30 arrests, and seizing at least 29 guns and nearly 170 grams of marijuana. More on the Death of Tyre Nichols Scorpion’s supposed successes became a talking point for city officials, including Mayor Jim Strickland, who highlighted the unit during his January 2022 State of the City speech and listed its early accomplishments: 566 arrests, 390 of them for felonies, as well as seizures of $103,000 in cash, 270 vehicles and 253 weapons.
As she marked her one-year anniversary on the job in May 2022, Chief Davis gave a presentation to the City Council in which she noted some progress in curtailing crime. In a slide titled “CRIME REDUCTION,” the Scorpion unit was her first bullet point.
“We created the new Scorpion unit,” she said, adding: “This unit basically targets some of the hot-spot areas where we saw frequent aggravated assaults and high crime.”
Like much of the country, Memphis had seen its homicide numbers jump in 2020 and 2021. Those numbers eased somewhat last year, but it was not clear how much credit could be given to the Scorpion unit, as many cities also saw declines in 2022. Memphis recorded a rise in property crimes last year.
Some activists and community members had been wary about the operations of the Scorpion unit long before the attack on Mr. Nichols.
Hunter Dempster, an organizer with Decarcerate Memphis, a news group pushing for accountability in the criminal justice system, said on Sunday that his organization has long been warning about the Scorpion team. He said the unit’s main mission had appeared to be conducting mass pullovers in poor neighborhoods that are home to many people of color.