MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Memphis Police Department’s SCORPION Unit is hitting the streets to strike back at the city’s high violent crime rate.
The ‘Street Crimes Operation To Rescue Peace In Our Neighborhoods.’ or SCORPION for short, launched Friday. MPD said four teams of officers will focus on restoring peace in neighborhoods and reducing violent crime in hot spots across the city.
The department said the formation of SCORPION is a proactive effort at combating the of high numbers of car jackings, assaults, and homicides in the city.
"It's important to us that each member of the community feels they can go to the grocery store or live in their house without their house being shot or shooting frequently occurring on the streets and on the roadways,” said MPD Assistant Chief Sean Jones.
About 50 officers will be in high crime hotspots every day. These are areas the department gets calls for violent crimes on a daily basis.