When elite cops go rogue: So-called "elite" anti-crime units like the one that killed Tyre Nichols have a nationwide legacy of killings, kidnappings, abuse, and corruption. So why do cities keep using them?

Thu, 02/09/2023 - 13:39

A crowd in Times Square, New York City, protests the police killing of Tyre Nichols. — People gather to protest against the police killing of Tyre Nichols at Times Square in New York on January 28, 2023.
Fatih Aktas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

How elite police units, like the Memphis Scorpion squad that killed Tyre Nichols, commit the crimes they're created to stop

They went by different names.

Red Dog. CRASH. The Gun Trace Task Force. Street Crime Unit. The Special Operations Section. The "Death Squad." The Place-Based Investigations Unit.

Scorpion.

But the specialized "street crime" squads, created in police departments around the country in response to rising rates of homicide and drug- and gun-related crimes, share a pattern of abuse.