Four out of the five Memphis police officers fired and criminally charged in the death of Tyre Nichols have previous records of disciplinary complaints.
The five former officers – Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley (Pictured above, left), Justin Smith (Pictured above, right), Emmitt Martin (Pictured above, center right), and Desmond Mills, Jr. (Picture above, center left) – were charged last week with second-degree murder in the beating death of Nichols.
Haley, Mills, Martin, and Smith all had past disciplinary complaints, according to their personnel files obtained by WREG Memphis.
Files show past discipline against officers in Tyre Nichols case https://t.co/wDryjewb3o
— WREG News Channel 3 (@3onyourside) February 1, 2023
WREG reports that Haley’s personnel record showed he was accused of excessive/unnecessary force following an arrest where he used force to put handcuffs on a woman while assisting another officer, who was accused of dislocating the woman’s shoulder. Haley did not fill out a response to the resistance form after he grabbed a woman’s arm to handcuff her, which must be filled out if an officer uses any part of their body “to compel compliance.” For this, Haley received a written reprimand.
Haley’s personnel record also showed a traffic citation for hitting a stop sign, which was ultimately dismissed.
Mills’ record displayed an instance where he failed to fill out a response to resistance form, in which a written reprimand was issued. In addition, Mills was accused of using excessive/unnecessary force during an arrest following a traffic stop that resulted in a wreck; however, that violation was not sustained, according to WREG.
Mills was also issued a written reprimand for “Rough or Careless Handling of Equipment.”
Martin was ordered to a three-day suspension without pay for not properly conducting a shift inspection, which led to a loaded handgun being found in the squad car used by Martin and his partner to transport suspects, according to WREG.
Martin’s file also exhibited that he received a one-day suspension without pay for failing to issue a report after responding to a domestic disturbance call.
Smith’s file revealed that he was ordered to a two-day unpaid suspension and issued a citation for failure to maintain proper control after a wreck, which saw an officer and another person injured, with three vehicles damaged, WREG reports.
Bean’s personnel record showed no prior incidents, WREG notes.
In addition to the five men, Memphis police have announced that two additional officers have been relieved of duty amid the ongoing investigation into the beating death of Nichols, as previously reported by The Tennessee Star.
— Memphis Police Dept (@MEM_PoliceDept) January 30, 2023
The Memphis Fire Dispatch (MFD) also announced that three paramedics had been terminated from the Memphis Fire Department as a result of its internal investigation into Nichols’ death.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
Background Photo “Memphis Police Department Car” by Thomas R Machnitzki. CC BY 3.0.
