Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified the number of use-of-force events in 2022. It has been updated.

The 10 officer-involved excessive force events that the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation was called to investigate in Shelby County last year was the highest number since at least 2019, and through the first five weeks of 2023, TBI has been called in to investigate three use-of-force events.

The most high-profile use-of-force event this year, which resulted in the death of Tyre Nichols, occurred on Jan. 7 when Nichols was beaten by five officers from MPD’s now-defunct SCORPION unit. He died in the hospital three days later. 

The TBI was most recently brought in to investigate a shooting that occurred Feb. 2 at the Poplar-White Station Library in East Memphis. A suspect died from gunshot wounds after an officer returned fire when that suspect shot another officer. The wounded officer was transported to Regional One Health in “extremely critical condition.”

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On Jan. 3, a suspect accused of shoplifting at Academy Sports in Collierville drove his car into Collierville police officers, who shot back at him multiple times. The suspect, Keshun Z. Lee, was uninjured and booked in jail.

The data may suggest an escalation in the overall number of use-of-force instances but at least part of the increase seems to stem from how the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office has handled the cases over time. 

There were nine officer-involved shootings in Shelby County in 2022 that TBI was called to investigate. Six of those calls came after Shelby County District Attorney General Steve Mulroy took office Sept. 1, 2022, and three were requested by former District Attorney Amy Weirich. The TBI was also called to investigate excessive force in the Shelby County Jail on Oct. 5. 

In 2021, there were five calls for TBI to investigate officer-involved shootings, according to the TBI. In 2020, there were two TBI-investigated shootings, and in 2019, there were seven.

There is no state law requiring TBI to investigate use-of-force cases in Tennessee; it is up to the discretion of the District Attorney General for that judicial district to request an investigation, according to the TBI.

However, Weirich signed a memorandum of understanding with TBI and the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office in 2015. The MOU asserts that the DA’s office must call TBI in when a person dies by an MPD or SCSO officer, or if a detainee in a jail facility dies in custody under questionable or unusual circumstances or if the death was sudden and not under medical supervision.

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Mulroy said he does not have a hard and fast policy on calling TBI in to investigate use-of-force events. Rather, he evaluates each situation individually. 

“As a general matter, if it’s an officer-involved fatality, shooting or otherwise, then I’m inclined to bring TBI in because we need an independent investigation,” Mulroy said. “It doesn’t have to be a fatality. If it’s a serious injury, that might suffice.”

Weirich, in a recent DM interview, also said she judged whether or not to call TBI in on a case-by-case basis and that it did not always have to result in the death of a suspect. But she said if she determined an officer shot at someone out of self defense, she would not call the TBI.

“The paramount guide for all of this is what the law says and an officer discharging his or her weapon is not per se questionable conduct,” Weirich said. “It may very well be that the officer was acting in self defense (or) defense of others.”

Mulroy said there would have to be a “very clear” instance of self defense for him not to call TBI.

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“I think as long as there’s any room for arguments, I think I would lean towards having the TBI come in to get information relevant to the question whether the officer acted in self defense,” Mulroy said. 

A Tennessee law that took effect at the beginning of 2022 requires all state law enforcement agencies to report use-of-force data to TBI monthly. The Daily Memphian requested those reports from last year, which showed there were 13 use-of-force incidents by Memphis police officers in 2022: Five resulted in the death of a suspect, three resulted in serious injury and five did not result in death or serious injury. 

That law also enacted use-of-force restrictions, including the banning of chokeholds except when deadly force is justified; de-escalation training; a requirement to intervene if another officer is violating use-of-force restrictions; and restrictions on when an officer can fire at a moving vehicle, motorcycle or bicycle.

There were 89 complaints of excessive or unnecessary force by police officers out of the 1,273 response-to-resistance (RTR) forms that were filed by officers in 2022, according to data on the Memphis Police Department’s Reimagine Policing in Memphis website. In total, there were 760,545 responses to calls last year.

Memphis police officers are required to submit RTR forms when they use any use of force tactic such as deploying a Taser, chemical agent or baton or if they use physical force or “impact delivery system.” If officers do not submit the form, they can face administrative action, including receiving a written reprimand or temporary suspension.

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Two officers charged in Nichols’ death failed to submit RTR forms after forcibly arresting individuals: Demetrius Haley in 2021 and Desmond Mills Jr. in 2019.

In 2021, there were 63 alleged violations made against officers and 1,330 RTR forms filed. In 2020, there were 97 allegations and 818 RTR forms.

Weirich said former MPD director Mike Rallings, who served in the job for about five years until April 2021, had a policy that police department officials were required to notify the District Attorney’s office if an officer was found to have used excessive force. The District Attorney would then determine if there should be criminal charges in addition to administrative charges.

But she said many times she was not alerted when an officer discharged his or her weapon at a suspect. If she was, there was sometimes a span of time, even up to a year, between the incident and the notification.

“It’s difficult to call TBI in to investigate a case if the DA is not made aware of the case pretty quickly,” Weirich said.

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To make up for the lag, Weirich set up the Conduct Review Team, where senior prosecutors reviewed cases and determined if any laws had been broken. 

She also said officers don’t have trackers on them, so it’s difficult to pinpoint when there is a violation of policy involving excessive force.

“That’s an internal policy conversation and decision,” Weirich said. “There were situations in which we as prosecutors were never made aware of that.”