WASHINGTON (WKRN) — The death of Tyre Nichols could lead to changes in police departments across the country.

On Wednesday, the Department of Justice said they’re looking into specialized police units across the country in the wake of Nichols’ death in Memphis in January.

“This SCORPION unit was designed to saturate under the guise of crime fighting and what it wound up doing instead was creating a continual pattern and practice of bad behavior,” said Nichols’ family lawyer Antonio Romanucci.

The DOJ said they will be coming up with a special unit guide for police chiefs and mayors with the goal of helping them better assess the appropriateness of the teams.

“…how to ensure necessary management and oversight of such units, including review of policies, tactics, training, supervision, accountability, and transparency,” the Department said in the release.

These units are common throughout the state and country.

Criminologist Philip Stinson says it is common for special units to recruit young, aggressive officers when more experienced officers may be better suited for teams with sometimes less supervision and a wider scope.

“They would enjoy this type of freedom and working with this unit,” Stinson explained. “Freed up from having to patrol a specific beat, different assignments on a daily basis and often times not having to wear a uniform while policing.”

Stinson says these units are not new and have been around for at least four decades, but they have come under increased scrutiny with the prominence of cell phone cameras and body cameras.

“We are pulling back the curtain to see how police officers act when they forget they are being watched,” Stinson said.