February 1, 2023
Report: Memphis Police Chief Was Fired From Atlanta Police Department Over Sex Crime Probe
As the police bodycam footage of Tyre Nichols’ brutal beating at the hands of Memphis police officers dominates the national headlines, disturbing information about the woman in charge of the five officers responsible, police chief Cerelyn Davis, is coming to light that calls into question her professional and ethical judgment.
In 2021, Davis was named Memphis’s first female police chief. Prior to that, she worked for the Atlanta police department, starting a patrol officer in 1986, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) reported. Her advancement in the department was swift, and she was ultimately named deputy chief.
According to AJC, Davis was fired from the Atlanta police department in 2008 for her involvement in a sex crimes investigation into the husband of an Atlanta police sergeant. Two detectives accused Davis of telling them not to investigate T.C. Crane, who later pleaded guilty to one count of producing child pornography after being indicted by a federal grand jury.
“Then-Chief Richard Pennington first demoted Davis from major to lieutenant before firing her,” AJC reported. “She challenged her firing before the city’s Civil Service Board and was ultimately reinstated.”
A second police employee was also fired and Tonya Crane resigned before the department could act against her.
Once in Memphis, Davis formed the elite SCORPION (Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods) unit, of which the five officers now charged with the murder of Nichols were a part.
“The unit was such a key part of the city’s crime-fighting strategy that Mayor Jim Strickland touted it in his State of the City address a year ago, at a time when the city was tallying record homicide numbers,” according to The New York Times.
On Saturday, the Memphis Police Department announced that the SCORPION unit was shut down, after the unit’s members met with Davis “to discuss the path forward.”
“In the process of listening intently to the family of Tyre Nichols, community leaders, and the uninvolved officers who have done quality work in their assignments, it is in the best interest of all to permanently deactivate the SCORPION unit,” the department said in a statement released on Twitter.
— Memphis Police Dept (@MEM_PoliceDept) January 28, 2023
“The current officers currently assigned to the unit agree unreservedly with this next step,” Memphis PD continued. “While the heinous actions of a few casts a cloud of dishonor on the title, SCORPION, it is imperative that we, the Memphis Police Department, take proactive steps in the healing process for all impacted.”