(AP)—Police departments across the country deploy plainclothes squads of officers in unmarked cars to tackle increasing crime rates or get guns off the street.
But these groups billed by departments as teams of “elite” officers often employ aggressive tactics, use force more often than their uniformed counterparts and lack supervision.
The beating and death of Tyre Nichols by five former Memphis police officers who belonged to an anti-crime unit has renewed scrutiny on the groups of officers and the culture of what some advocates call “jump-out boys.”
Advocates say the results-oriented teams who have been accused of planting evidence and needlessly roughing up suspects use pretextual stops to search for evidence of larger crimes.
