MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The man who was shot by an MPD officer is now on life support. Martavious Banks was shot during a traffic stop in South Memphis on September 17.
Doctors told Banks’ mother one of the bullets shattered a bone in his arm and says he remains on life support.
A lot of questions surround what happened. And now, the TBI is trying to get to the bottom of it. State investigators took over when it was discovered three of the officers that were there that night, including the officer who shot Banks, had either their body-worn cameras or patrol car cameras turned off at some point during the encounter.
Those three officers have been relieved of duty with pay.
On Tuesday, the Memphis City Council drilled MPD’s top officials about the cameras being turned off.
MPD says an officer has to check their cameras before their shift starts and report any problems to their supervisor. They say an officer who doesn’t follow protocol could get a verbal warning or suspension.
The Memphis Police Department reports 53 officers have been caught turning off a camera.
“We have had 53 statement of charges issued since the implementation. Out of those 53, we had 48 pieces of discipline that were sent down to the officers.”
They said a small percentage of those officers who turned off their cameras were terminated, but were also in trouble for other things.
Councilman Edmond Ford and County Commissioner Tami Sawyer are now working a plan to have the state investigate all officer-involved shootings. They plan to discuss that plan in upcoming meetings.
