More video of Nichols’ scene to be released

Investigation over, some involved will get pension

The City of Memphis will release nearly 20 hours of footage Wednesday afternoon from the scene where Tyre Nichols was beaten by multiple Memphis police officers in early January.

The footage, along with accompanying charging documents, come over a month after the initial body camera footage was released.

“The investigation has been concluded,” Jennifer Sink, chief legal officer for the City of Memphis, said in a Tuesday morning presentation before the Memphis City Council’s Public Safety Committee.

In total, 13 officers from the Memphis Police Department were investigated. Seven were fired, three were suspended and two had their internal charges dismissed. One officer retired, but the recommendation for that person was termination.

The officer who retired submitted his retirement before the hearing was scheduled. Sink said the city cannot compel someone to come to work or a hearing unless they’re employed by the City of Memphis.

“What happened, at my direction, was the hearing was still held, nobody appeared, but that was to be expected,” Sink said. “The hearing officer made a determination based upon the information available to him.”

Although that officer was not officially fired, Sink said there will be a record that shows the charges brought against the officer, along with the course of action recommended for each of the violations.

Four employees from the Memphis Fire Department were also charged. Two emergency medical technicians — Robert Long and Jamichael Sandridge — along with Lt. Michelle Whitaker were fired Jan. 30. The fourth MFD personnel received a suspension and remedial training.

According to Sink, all of the officers who struck Nichols were part of the first group of terminations and criminal charges.

One other person, who was suspended, did, at the tail end, “place hands on legs, but that was not a strike or an assault.” That person received a suspension.

“We need to fix that. It’s upsetting because I don’t know the extent of what he or she has done.”

Memphis City Councilman JB Smiley

All of the suspensions are without pay and they will return to work after.

With the city’s current pension system, an employee can retire — even if they are facing disciplinary action — and retain their pension. Sink said that Tennessee state law, which says a government employee’s pension can be rescinded if convicted of a crime, is the “only mechanism that the city has to revoke or rescind somebody’s pension.”

“We need to fix that,” said Memphis City Councilman JB Smiley. “It’s upsetting...because I don’t know the extent of what he or she has done, but what I do know is that they played a part, in something that played out very publicly, which ultimately added to life being taken from a young man. I just don’t like the fact that his parents, essentially, are paying this officer to go on and live.”

Nichols was pulled over for an alleged traffic violation in the evening hours of January 7, though officials have since said there was no evidence to support whether he actually committed one.

Video footage from the traffic stop showed Nichols, 29, being pulled from his car before being held on the ground while other officers pepper sprayed him. When Nichols got up and began running, now-former Officer Preston Hemphill fired his taser at Nichols. It is unclear if the prongs of that taser actually hit Nichols.

Nichols was eventually caught at a second scene, less than 100 yards from his mother’s house, where officers punched, kicked, pepper sprayed and hit him with a baton.

Five officers – Tadarius Bean, Emmitt Martin III, Justin Smith, Demetrius Haley and Desmond Mills, Jr. – were initially fired and later charged. A sixth officer, Hemphill, was also fired, but he has not been criminally charged.

Footage showed Nichols slumped on the side of an unmarked squad cruiser as officers meandered around him. Eventually, he was taken to St. Francis Hospital in critical condition. He died three days later.

Katherine Burgess covers county government and religion. She can be reached at katherine.burgess@commercialappeal.com or followed on Twitter @kathsburgess.

Lucas Finton is a news reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at Lucas.finton@commercialappeal.com and followed on Twitter @Lucasfinton.