The police chief in Memphis should be replaced one year after the death of a child

The Sacramento Unit, A Crime-Suppression Team, and the Memphis Police Director Paul Young, have filed a civil lawsuit against Davis, the mother of Nichols,

Davis was in charge of the department when Nichols, who was Black, was hit with a stun gun, pepper sprayed, punched and kicked by officers after a traffic stop. The officers were part of a crime-suppression team called the Scorpion unit, which was established in 2021, after Davis took over as Memphis Police Director.

Paul Young was elected as the new mayor on January 1st, but he did not seek reappointment of Davis, despite his insistence that she was the right person for the job. Davis was appointed by previous Mayor Jim Strickland, who left office due to term limits.

Nichols died on Jan. 10, 2023 — three days after the beating — and camera footage of it was released publicly. The beating was part of a series of cases of police brutality against Black people that sparked protests and renewed debate the need for police reform in the U.S.

In all, seven officers were fired for violating department policies, resulting in Nichols’ death, while an eighth was allowed to retire before he could be fired.

Mills was charged with excessive force and obstruction of justice. He had also agreed to plead guilty to state charges, prosecutors said. The four other officers have pleaded not guilty to the state and federal charges.

The police director has said that there was no evidence to support the allegation of driving recklessly that caused the officers to pull Nichols over.

Davis, the city and the former officers are also being sued by Nichols’ mother in federal court. The $550 million lawsuit blames them for his death and accuses Davis of allowing the unit’s aggressive tactics to go unaddressed despite warning signs.

The Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Revisited after the Justice Department Public Comment on a Specialized Police Unit

The Justice Department said in March that it was looking into use of force, de-escalation strategies, and specialized police units.

The meeting between the committee and the council was tense with council members questioning Davis about her record. Some police officers sat in the audience in support of their boss. Some people in the audience held signs with slogans such as “We support chief Davis” and “No on chief Davis.”

During her tenure, Davis hired more than 400 officers and expanded community-oriented policing. She and the people he recommended for jobs were supported by Young.

The DOJ guide, released by the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, known as COPS, suggested that the units can serve a laudable purpose, from preventing auto thefts and street violence to arresting particularly violent suspects. But it adds that elected leaders and police chiefs should assess how long they need to operate, and perhaps set term limits based on community needs.

The guide is meant to assist law enforcement in avoiding bad outcomes such as the one that happened last year, associate attorney general Vanita Gupta told NPR.

Over the years, the units in places like Los Angeles, New York, and Washington, D.C. have come under scrutiny due to their dedication to the communities they are supposed to serve. Some of their names alone–Scorpion, Wolfpack, and Crash–“emphasize and further separate the agency from the community and perpetuate the ‘us versus them’ mentality,” the new guide said.

Are police always accountable? A joint investigation of the Nichols-Gupta-Salpeter report and the actions of the New York City police department to investigate the death of a police officer

Gupta hopes that the new report will help managers ask the right questions at the beginning but still ensure that there’s accountability in place.

She said that after the death of Nichols, many police officials nationwide began to evaluate their own operations.