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Twice now in less than two months, calls to the Metro Nashville Police Department about a person experiencing a mental health crisis have led to officers shooting the person in crisis.
On March 12, 33-year-old Melissa Wooden called 911 and made comments to dispatchers about harming herself specifically, she said she hoped police would come and shoot her to death. Three Madison precinct officers responded to the 2800 block of Greer Road in the Goodlettsville area, where they found Wooden, a white woman, standing near the road with a pickax and a baseball bat. Footage from a body camera worn by Officer Ben Williams shows him arriving on the scene as another officer is shouting at Wooden to “Step away from my car!” Williams begins engaging with her more calmly, and as she makes repeated comments urging the officers to kill her, Williams tells her that’s not going to happen.
MNPD Chief announces addition to Office of Alternative Policing Strategies
WTVF
Posted at 9:21 PM, Apr 30, 2021
and last updated 2021-04-30 22:21:55-04
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) â Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake announced the expansion of the recently created office of Alternative Police Strategies.
Terrence Graves will join the office and work alongside Inspector David Imhof. Their goal is to develop and advance three priorities: Juvenile Diversion, the Creation of a Mental Health Crisis Intervention Team, and Gun Violence Intervention.
Graves is a 23-year MNPD veteran, who has commanded operations at the North Precinct for the past nine years.
âCaptain Graves is passionate about dissuading juveniles from violence and reducing gun crime,â Chief Drake said in a press release. âThe new work he is undertaking with Inspector Imhof will be important for Nashvilleâs public safety both now and into the future.â
Wicked Local
Editor s note: In the final part of our series, we take a closer look at what the local police response to mental health issues has been like during the pandemic.
The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have impacted all facets of life including mental health. Like local emergency room departments and private clinicians, local police departments have also seen a significant increase in mental health calls since March 2020.
Local police
Boxborough Police Chief Warren Ryder estimates a 30-40% increase in mental health-related calls during the pandemic compared with the previous year.
Maynard Police Chief Michael Noble said it is difficult to tally the exact number of mental health calls as they are called in and identified as several different incidents, perhaps as a disturbance, domestic dispute, or medical issue. The department s mental health referrals, however, are up 105% from the quarter before COVID.
Wicked Local
Editor s note: In the final part of our series, we take a closer look at what the local police response to mental health issues has been like during the pandemic.
The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have impacted all facets of life including mental health. Like local emergency room departments and private clinicians, local police departments have also seen a significant increase in mental health calls since March 2020.
Local police
Boxborough Police Chief Warren Ryder estimates a 30-40% increase in mental health-related calls during the pandemic compared with the previous year.
Maynard Police Chief Michael Noble said it is difficult to tally the exact number of mental health calls as they are called in and identified as several different incidents, perhaps as a disturbance, domestic dispute, or medical issue. The department s mental health referrals, however, are up 105% from the quarter before COVID.
Fort Worth Weekly
Forever Changed
Nonviolent protests, a deadly pandemic, and divisive elections shook Fort Worth in 2020, and there’s no going back to business as usual.
By Edward Brown
Photo by Jason Brimmer.
Behind Dickies Arena, and largely hidden from passersby, several lines of cars crept toward dozens of volunteers who were stocking trunks with frozen turkeys, orange juice, and other foodstuffs as part of a mobile pantry by the Tarrant Area Food Bank (TAFB).
“Most of these folks, around 40%, are brand-new to our services,” said Julie Butner, president and CEO of the TAFB. “These are folks who held two or three jobs and lost one. These are working families, but they don’t have enough money to meet their food needs.”