Four of the five former Memphis officers indicted for murder, aggravated assault and other charges in connection to the deadly beating of Tyre Nichols were previously suspended or received written reprimands during their tenure at the police department, according to reports.
Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills, Jr., Justin Smith, and Emmitt Martin III all received prior disciplinary action for incidents including failure to report when they used physicality, failing to report alleged domestic violence or for damages to their squad cars, according to internal records obtained by The Commercial Appeal through a public records request.
Tadarrius Bean, also terminated and subsequently charged over Nichols’ death, was the only one without any prior internal department disciplinary record, according to the newspaper.
Haley received a written reprimand in November 2021 for failing to file a response to resistance form, which is required when "any part of the officer's body" is used "to compel compliance" per department policy and procedures.
A woman complained in February of that year that Haley grabbed her "by the arm and turned her around to be handcuffed as she resisted arrest," according to the charges statement. A disciplinary hearing summary said, "Officer Haley advised that he understood the policy but had simply mistaken, in this case, as to the amount of force necessary to require a blue team entry."
At the hearing, Memphis Police Lt. William Acred said Haley was "a hard-working officer" who "routinely makes good decisions" and that "he was sure that this was a limited event," the newspaper reported.
Month later, Haley was driving his police cruiser with lights and sirens on when he lost control during a turn, hitting the curb and a stop sign. He said he was responding to a call for back-up from another officers who said he has a suspect at gunpoint. The internal charged was later dismissed.
Mills, Jr. also received a written command for failing to fill out a response to resistance form. In March 2019, he took a woman police were trying to arrest to the ground to help in handcuffing her. The hearing summary said, "Officer Mills stated he was familiar with completing the response to resistance document in Blue Team, but he did not realize it applied to his actions in this cause."
Mills, Jr. was reprimanded in another hearing for mishandling equipment after his digital personal assistant was dropped and run over by another vehicle, according to the internal records.
As for Martin III, he was suspended for three days without pay for not checking the back seat of his cruiser, where a silver revolver was found after his shift.
He was also suspended for a day without pay for failing to take a report after responding to an alleged domestic violence incident Sept. 7, 2020, as is required per department policy and Tennessee state law. At his hearing, Officer James Schmedes described Martin as "one of the shift’s top producers."
In July 2021, Martin was suspended for two days after while driving an unmarked police cruiser, he struck the back end of a Ford F-150, causing it to spin out, and then hit the driver’s side of a Chevy Malibu. Both he and the driver of the Ford were taken to Regional One Hospital. The driver of the Ford was also cited for driving with a suspended license, according to internal records.
Seven officers were relieved of duty following Nichols’ Jan. 7 arrest. Nichols died at the hospital three days later. Five of those officers were indicted last week as officials also released graphic body camera and street cam video of the deadly beating following a traffic stop.
The actions of the two others remain under investigation.
One of them, identified as Officer Preston Hemphill, who is the only known White officer involved, participated in the initial traffic stop and use of a taser but was not directly involved at the first and second scene where Nichols was physically abused and suffered serious injuries, Memphis police said Monday. The identity of the seventh officer involved has not been revealed.
City of Memphis Chief Legal Officer Jennifer Sink said in a Tuesday evening statement that the city will be holding all additional video and audio relating to the Jan. 7 traffic stop until it completes an administrative investigation, which should occur in the "coming weeks."
Three Memphis fire EMTs were terminated Monday as a result of investigations into Nichols’ death. Memphis police disbanded its Scorpion unit, launched in November 2021 to patrol high-crime areas.
Vice President Kamala Harris and the family members of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor are expected to attended Nichols’ funeral Wednesday, which was postponed by several hours due to weather and travel delays. The Rev. Al Sharpton is expected to delivery the eulogy.
Fox News’ Adam Sabes contributed to this report.
