# Tyre Nichols’ Death Underscores the Troubled History of Specialized Police Units  ## Metadata - Author:: [[Ian T. Adams]] - Full Title:: Tyre Nichols’ Death Underscores the Troubled History of Specialized Police Units - Category: #articles - URL: https://theconversation.com/tyre-nichols-death-underscores-the-troubled-history-of-specialized-police-units-198851?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20February%202%202023%20-%202533125447&utm_content=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20February%202%202023%20-%202533125447+CID_7f2dc82b0136666da1be8782668c47eb&utm_source=campaign_monitor_us&utm_term=Tyre%20Nichols%20death%20underscores%20the%20troubled%20history%20of%20specialized%20police%20units ## Highlights > The [officers charged](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tyre-nichols-death-investigation-memphis-police-officers-charges-what-we-know/) in the [fatal beating of Tyre Nichols](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/01/27/us/tyre-nichols-police-beating-timeline.html) were not your everyday uniformed patrol officers. > Rather, they were part of an elite squad: Memphis Police Department’s [SCORPION team](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/29/us/memphis-police-scorpions.html) ... officers detailed specifically to prevent, detect and interrupt violent crime by proactively using stops, frisks, searches and arrests > Treating aggressive crime fighting as the highest priority in policing can cultivate a corrosive culture in which bad behavior is often tolerated, even encouraged – to the [detriment of community relations](https://www.rand.org/pubs/tools/TL261/better-policing-toolkit/all-strategies/zero-tolerance/in-depth.html) ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gr9gb89p9rxg3vmh00z24bh6)) #### From Prohibition to the war on drugs > Crime suppression units, sometimes called “violence reduction units” or “street crimes units,” have a [long and often sordid history](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/01/31/scorpion-police-units-harm-communities/) in the United States. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gr9gc00errvgp38xnfcd46kw)) > It noted that the “unfortunate public expressions [by police] approving killings and promiscuous shootings and lawless raids and seizures” can lead to the alienation of “thoughtful citizens, believers in law and order.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gr9gdanc9kbe5fw0h44dm2aj)) > surge in public demand for the police to “do something.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gr9ge5g6wfnvkz0j5f0q039g)) > So instead of addressing social problems, such as poverty and lack of economic opportunity, elected officials turn to police leaders, who often reach for a familiar tool: [aggressive enforcement tactics](https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/addressing-violent-crime-more-effectively) ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gr9gex3xzjwrk70ht1447v0d)) #### When cops ‘own the city’ > [celebrated](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/29/us/memphis-police-scorpions.html) the number of arrests that the SCORPION team’s officers made, along with the guns, cash and vehicles they seized ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gr9ggrsfx8fsdqbd3bzj8vpv)) > lost around 23% of its sworn personnel between 2013 and 2018, [the department lowered overall minimum standards](https://www.actionnews5.com/story/38513242/mpd-makes-changes-to-college-requirements-for-recruits) for officers, and [inexperienced officers were appointed to SCORPION](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/memphis-police-scorpion-unit-tyre-nichols-rcna67711) – [including those now charged](https://apnews.com/article/tyre-nichols-police-officers-charged-48d48f2137a2f34482274edb1bd1bab2) with murdering Tyre Nichols. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gr9gjyw9723wsde3q8hyaeg8)) > Scandal connects these units. In each case – and in many more – officers stepped over the line from aggressive enforcement to misconduct, abuse or even outright criminality ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gr9gktsx8h76jhna3epv0bb6)) #### Do the ends justify the means? > higher priority on maintaining order than on operating legally.” ... the ends justify the means.” > To a significant extent, this comes down to agency culture ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gr9gqqbk3r5fsg16yqakwh0d)) > When aggressive police culture overwhelms the professional norms of constitutional policing, the public safety mission of policing breaks down ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gr9graeg5e5bbzh04w5zw8zh)) > The legitimacy of policing, we believe, depends on recognizing that while hyperaggressive tactics by young, often inexperienced officers in crime suppression units may contribute to short-term deterrence of some violent crime, those same tactics are very likely to leave a wake of public disgust and distrust behind ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gr9gs0e27xah0xwwx9tc9b3r)) # Tyre Nichols’ Death Underscores the Troubled History of Specialized Police Units  ## Metadata - Author:: [[Ian T. Adams]] - Full Title:: Tyre Nichols’ Death Underscores the Troubled History of Specialized Police Units - Category: #articles - URL: https://theconversation.com/tyre-nichols-death-underscores-the-troubled-history-of-specialized-police-units-198851?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20February%202%202023%20-%202533125447&utm_content=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20February%202%202023%20-%202533125447+CID_7f2dc82b0136666da1be8782668c47eb&utm_source=campaign_monitor_us&utm_term=Tyre%20Nichols%20death%20underscores%20the%20troubled%20history%20of%20specialized%20police%20units ## Highlights > The [officers charged](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tyre-nichols-death-investigation-memphis-police-officers-charges-what-we-know/) in the [fatal beating of Tyre Nichols](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/01/27/us/tyre-nichols-police-beating-timeline.html) were not your everyday uniformed patrol officers. > Rather, they were part of an elite squad: Memphis Police Department’s [SCORPION team](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/29/us/memphis-police-scorpions.html) ... officers detailed specifically to prevent, detect and interrupt violent crime by proactively using stops, frisks, searches and arrests > Treating aggressive crime fighting as the highest priority in policing can cultivate a corrosive culture in which bad behavior is often tolerated, even encouraged – to the [detriment of community relations](https://www.rand.org/pubs/tools/TL261/better-policing-toolkit/all-strategies/zero-tolerance/in-depth.html) ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gr9gb89p9rxg3vmh00z24bh6)) #### From Prohibition to the war on drugs > Crime suppression units, sometimes called “violence reduction units” or “street crimes units,” have a [long and often sordid history](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/01/31/scorpion-police-units-harm-communities/) in the United States. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gr9gc00errvgp38xnfcd46kw)) > It noted that the “unfortunate public expressions [by police] approving killings and promiscuous shootings and lawless raids and seizures” can lead to the alienation of “thoughtful citizens, believers in law and order.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gr9gdanc9kbe5fw0h44dm2aj)) > surge in public demand for the police to “do something.” ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gr9ge5g6wfnvkz0j5f0q039g)) > So instead of addressing social problems, such as poverty and lack of economic opportunity, elected officials turn to police leaders, who often reach for a familiar tool: [aggressive enforcement tactics](https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/addressing-violent-crime-more-effectively) ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gr9gex3xzjwrk70ht1447v0d)) #### When cops ‘own the city’ > [celebrated](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/29/us/memphis-police-scorpions.html) the number of arrests that the SCORPION team’s officers made, along with the guns, cash and vehicles they seized ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gr9ggrsfx8fsdqbd3bzj8vpv)) > lost around 23% of its sworn personnel between 2013 and 2018, [the department lowered overall minimum standards](https://www.actionnews5.com/story/38513242/mpd-makes-changes-to-college-requirements-for-recruits) for officers, and [inexperienced officers were appointed to SCORPION](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/memphis-police-scorpion-unit-tyre-nichols-rcna67711) – [including those now charged](https://apnews.com/article/tyre-nichols-police-officers-charged-48d48f2137a2f34482274edb1bd1bab2) with murdering Tyre Nichols. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gr9gjyw9723wsde3q8hyaeg8)) > Scandal connects these units. In each case – and in many more – officers stepped over the line from aggressive enforcement to misconduct, abuse or even outright criminality ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gr9gktsx8h76jhna3epv0bb6)) #### Do the ends justify the means? > higher priority on maintaining order than on operating legally.” ... the ends justify the means.” > To a significant extent, this comes down to agency culture ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gr9gqqbk3r5fsg16yqakwh0d)) > When aggressive police culture overwhelms the professional norms of constitutional policing, the public safety mission of policing breaks down ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gr9graeg5e5bbzh04w5zw8zh)) > The legitimacy of policing, we believe, depends on recognizing that while hyperaggressive tactics by young, often inexperienced officers in crime suppression units may contribute to short-term deterrence of some violent crime, those same tactics are very likely to leave a wake of public disgust and distrust behind ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01gr9gs0e27xah0xwwx9tc9b3r))