According to recently released police papers obtained by Insider, all five Memphis Police officers accused of fatally beating Tyre Nichols failed to record the entire incident on their body-worn cameras, and three of the five wholly removed their cameras while the situation was still in progress.
The police agency published sections of the body-worn camera footage of the responding officers and CCTV footage of the interaction after Nichols passed away. However, the contentious “sky cop” cameras that were put throughout Memphis in crime areas and have cost the city more than $10 million provided the most detailed account of the deadly incident.
One responding officer acknowledged snapping and then shared a picture of Nichols, bleeding, bruised, and detained, following the altercation on his smartphone, according to police records obtained by Insider on Tuesday.
The Memphis Police Department submitted five requests for decertification for the five officers concerned late last month. The Tennessee Peace Officers Standards and Training Commission, a state board organization, received the police records as part of those requests.
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In connection with the death of Nichols, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr., Justin Smith, Demetrius Haley, and Tadarrius Bean were all fired and subsequently charged with second-degree murder.
Memphis police pulled over Nichols on the evening of January 7 on suspicion of “reckless driving.” However, police officials later said they had not discovered proof of Nichols’s erratic driving. Nichols was taken out of his car and shoved to the ground by numerous officers, who then engaged him in an initial altercation.
As a cop attempted to Tase Nichols, he stood up and fled, leading to a second confrontation. In body camera footage, multiple police officers can be seen beating Nichols as he is on the ground.
Ththe ree days after the traffic stop, Nichols passed away. According to Tennessee law, cops must turn on their body cameras for “all law enforcement encounters and activities.”
However, according to investigators, Martin did not turn on his body camera during the initial altercation with Nichols. The docs state that he also took the camera out of his duty vest and put it in an unmarked car “at some time.”
Records show that during the “active scene,” Bean also took his body-worn camera out of his job vest and placed it on the trunk of a squad car. He reportedly walked away from the camera while it was still recording to speak with his fellow officers about the situation.
The DA’s office says it will conduct a review of all the cases handled by the five former Memphis police officers charged in Tyre Nichols’ death. Four had prior violations at work. https://t.co/7mYDT865on
— NPR (@NPR) February 10, 2023
According to officials, Mills’ camera captured their initial interaction. However, the officer later took off his duty vest and put it on the trunk of an unmarked car while still wearing the camera. According to police records, Haley and Smith failed to thoroughly document the interaction with Nichols.
The beating resulted in the termination of six police officers in total. Seven additional officers in the department are subject to an internal investigation, and potential disciplinary action, the City of Memphis reported on Tuesday.
