**Related Video Above: Protests were peaceful after release of video that shows beating of Tyre Nichols.**
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WREG/AP) — Memphis Police announced on Saturday they have permanently disbanded the SCORPION unit.
In response to the tragic death of Tyre Nichols, Chief CJ Davis said “it is in the best interest of all to permanently deactivate the SCORPION Unit.”
MPD said officers who are currently assigned to the unit “unreservedly agree” with the steps the department is taking. Find the full statement below:
The unit is composed of three teams of about 30 officers who target violent offenders in areas beset by high crime. It had been inactive since Nichols’ Jan. 7 arrest.
Scorpion stands for Street Crimes Operations to Restore Peace in our Neighborhoods.
Protesters march down the street Friday, Jan. 27, 2023, in Memphis, Tenn., as authorities release police video depicting five Memphis officers beating Tyre Nichols, whose death resulted in murder charges and provoked outrage at the country’s latest instance of police brutality. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) 
The image from video released on Jan. 27, 2023, by the City of Memphis, shows Tyre Nichols during a brutal attack by five Memphis police officers on Jan. 7, 2023, in Memphis, Tenn. Nichols died on Jan. 10. The five officers have since been fired and charged with second-degree murder and other offenses. (City of Memphis via AP) 
This photo provided by the Nichols family shows Tyre Nichols, who was just minutes from his home in Memphis, Tennessee, on Jan. 7, 2023, when he was pulled over by police and fatally beaten. (Courtesy of the Nichols family via AP) 
Surveillance video shows Memphis Police drag Tyre Nichols on the street after officers held him down, punched and kicked him. (MPD video) 
This combo of booking images provided by the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office shows, from top row from left, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, bottom row from left, Desmond Mills, Jr. and Justin Smith. The five former Memphis police officers have been charged with second-degree murder and other crimes in the arrest and death of Tyre Nichols, a Black motorist who died three days after a confrontation with the officers during a traffic stop, records showed Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023. (Shelby County Sheriff’s Office via AP)
Protestors marching though downtown Memphis cheered when they heard the unit had been dissolved. One protestor said over a bullhorn “the unit that killed Tyre has been permanently disbanded.”
In an interview Friday with The Associated Press, Davis said she would not shut down a unit if a few officers commit “some egregious act” and because she needs that unit to continue to work.
“The whole idea that the Scorpion unit is a bad unit, I just have a problem with that,” Davis said.
The disbanding was announced as the nation and the city struggled to come to grips with video showing police pummeling the Black motorist.
