More Memphis police officers facing disciplinary actions in Tyre Nichols killing

Feb. 7 (UPI) -- Memphis Police Chief C.J. Davis said the scope of officers being investigated for their actions and whereabouts at the time Tyre Nichols was beaten while in police custody continues to expand.

During a city council meeting on Tuesday, Davis said it was initially believed that only seven officers were on the scene, but it has since been discovered that others were outside of the view of body cameras. In total, at least 10 officers made the scene, she confirmed.

Davis said there are disciplinary actions being brought against 12 individuals in the department, including those who did not make the scene but had some level of responsibility over the officers who were involved.

Six officers have been fired so far and 13 face disciplinary action, according to City Attorney Jennifer Sink, reported by News Channel 3 in Memphis. Seven more officers will be issued a statement of charges for violating policy in their responses on Jan. 7.

Sink confirmed to CNN that the "final round of statement of charges" will come down by the end of the week. Administrative hearings will then begin next week.

"Every situation involves multiple officers and personnel, so the investigation has been very thorough," Sink said, according to News Channel 3. "They have examined every person who was, or should have been, involved in this process in determining whether there was some kind of violation of a policy that was committed."

A seventh officer has been relieved of their duty but not officially terminated, Davis confirmed, though they are yet to be identified as an investigation into them continues. She said the number may continue to grow as an administrative investigation continues.

Councilor J.B. Smiley Jr. questioned whether all patrol vehicles were equipped with automatic vehicle locator systems, and Davis said they are not. Councilor Worth Morgan said every officer's location must be accounted.

"It does get to the line of cover-up if somebody was involved and somebody was present and they are failing to come forward with that information," Morgan said.

"We need to know where each officer was in the area at that time and if there's any failure to communicate that, that is critical. It's unforgivable in this instance."

Councilman Jeff Warren noted that the killing of Nichols is part of the larger issue of systemic racism that has consistently led to the deaths of Black civilians at the hands of law enforcement.

"I think what people are forgetting and not taking into account is that this is not a Memphis problem. This is a national problem of where we're not valuing young African American men," Warren said. "It's the result of slavery and Jim Crow. Until we as a society own up to that we're going to have that problem again and again."