Weekly Update

Friends,

Since learning of this tragic event, transparency and swift methodical action have been our top priorities because the family of Mr. Nichols and our citizens deserve nothing less. The actions of these officers were awful, and no one, including law enforcement, is above the law. I assure you we will do everything we can to keep this type of heinous act from happening again.

As you know, five Memphis Police officers were terminated last week and were indicted and arrested yesterday. These officers were found to be directly responsible for the physical abuse of Mr. Nichols. They were each charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression.

Concurrent within that investigation, other MPD officers are still under investigation for department policy violations, some infractions are less egregious than others.

As this investigation and other external investigations continue, we promise full and complete cooperation from the Memphis Police Department with the Department of Justice, the FBI, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office to determine the entire scope of facts that contributed to Tyre Nichols’ death.

In this case, I want to thank Chief Davis and her team for moving quickly with the administrative procedure resulting in termination and District Attorney Mulroy for taking deliberate actions in bringing these indictments forward. We have worked to get a resolution to these matters in record time because we take them extremely seriously.

As we have said all along, we wanted to ensure the proper legal steps were followed and that the family of Mr. Nichols had the opportunity to view the video footage privately before we released it to the public. In light of those matters occurring, we will be releasing the video to the public later today after 6 p.m.

It is clear that these officers violated the department’s policies and training. I want to assure you we are doing everything we can to prevent this from happening again. We are initiating an outside, independent review of the training, policies, and operations of our specialized units. Since this event happened, the SCORPION Unit has been and remains inactive.

Lastly, I am sad and angry for the family of Tyre Nichols. I am also angry for the many good men and women of the Memphis Police Department who devote their lives to serving our citizens. We must all work to regain the public’s trust and work together to heal the wounds these events have caused.

To view my video statement, go here.

To view Chief Davis’s video statement, go here.

Congratulations and thank you: Earlier this week, the 100 Club of Memphis held its annual dinner honoring our public safety employees who have gone above and beyond the call of duty for our community.

The 2023 Valor Award Winners include:

Officer William Hickman

Officer John Newport

Officer Lawrence Taylor

Last August, a “shots fired” call was received by dispatch from a hotel on Lamar Ave. Officer Taylor was the first on the scene, and while speaking with the security guard on-site shots were fired from a broken hotel room window. All available officers then responded, including Officers Hickman and Newport.

Once the suspect was apprehended, a .45 caliber GLOCK with a 50-round magazine was discovered. 42 of those rounds were spent. Thankfully, no one was injured, and the suspect was charged with 35 counts of attempted first degree murder and for being a convicted felon in possession of handgun.

The 2023 Jerome Turner Community Service Award Winner:

Officer Antoine Smith

In 2018, Officer Smith saw a need to mentor local children through athletics, so he created Youth Uniting, a nonprofit to provide youth activities for underserved children. Not only do children get to participate in athletics, but Officer Smith also teaches them community service through projects like community clean events where they work side by side with others.

To these officers and the many like them on the Memphis Police Department—thank you for all you do for our community.

Enjoy your weekend!

Yours,