MPD adds SCORPION unit to crime-fighting arsenal
A new crime response unit of the Memphis Police Department seized 29 guns, 168 grams of marijuana and about $4,000 in cash, as well as arresting about 30 people, during its first weekend of operation, MPD said Monday, Nov. 15.
Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods, or the SCORPION unit, is MPD’s latest addition to its efforts to reduce homicides, assaults, carjackings and auto thefts, among other crimes, by 5% in the next year.
The 50-person unit will be a permanent addition to the department as top brass pushes to reach its goal to reduce homicides, assaults, carjackings, auto thefts and other crime by 5% next year.
“It is important to us that each member of the community feels like they can go to the grocery store or live in their house” without fear of being shot, MPD Assistant Chief Shawn Jones said in discussing the unit during a virtual press conference Monday.
Jones said the SCORPION unit is comprised of three teams – a crime suppression team, an auto theft task force and a gang unit team.
The crime suppression team will be out every day in hot spots where MPD has received a large number of 911 calls. The auto theft task will work to curb car thefts while the gang unit will deal with violence related to suspected gang activity, Jones said.
“With the gang component, we feel that a lot of the crimes that we deal with – especially a lot of the shootings – relate to the retaliation maybe from gang members,” Jones said.
He said the three teams will operate seven days a week.
Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis speaks at a crime forum hosted by Memphis Chamber of Commerce and the Memphis and Shelby County Crime Commission on Nov. 10. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian)
Law enforcement including MPD Chief Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis, Shelby County District Attorney Amy Weirich and Crime Commission head Bill Gibbons spoke last week at one of three crime forums. The other two are planned for Tuesday in Frayser and South Memphis on Thursday.
During Monday’s announcement about SCORPION, Jones, who has been in Memphis for two months, said he and Davis knew they had to do something about the daily violence because they don’t want to exceed last year’s homicide record of 332 deaths.
To date, 282 homicides have been recorded in Memphis.
“Looking at data, we realized we needed to do something now because anytime we lose a life, that’s one too many,” Jones said.
Topics
Memphis Police Department violent crime HomicidesYolanda Jones
Yolanda Jones covers criminal justice issues and general assignment news for The Daily Memphian. She previously was a reporter at The Commercial Appeal.
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