Three officers with the Metro Nashville Police Department who were part of a botched robbery at an apartment have been fired, Interim Police Chief John Drake said Wednesday. An investigation is underway after officers entered into “the residence of an innocent family in Edgehill,” according to a press release.
“No innocent family in Nashville, anywhere, should be subjected to what the mother and her two children went through on Tuesday morning,” Chief Drake said. “They were awakened by a team of officers who knocked on their door and it finally knocked with a window. It appears the mother did not get the right time to get to the door before it was broken into.”
Footage from body cameras, which police said “severely disturbed” him, showed armed officers rattling at the front door at 6:05 a.m. local time Tuesday. The mother can be heard in the bodycam video responding to police moments before officers open the door. The police chief said the evidence certificate for search was carried out in connection with a string of car burglaries and that officials were looking for a 16-year-old who believed to be at that address.
“It also appears that the West Precinct did not exercise due diligence in confirming that the 16-year-old who was the subject of the search even lived in that apartment,” Drake explained. “In light of this scenario, we will review our search processes and provide some updated training needed to ensure that Tuesday’s scenario is not repeated.”
CBS affiliate WTVF-TV said officers had keys to the apartment, but they did not work because the locks were recently changed. The station said the family has been living at the residence for the past four months.
“There appears to be a lack of confirmation by other means, including surveillance or control of human resources, that the 16-year-old lived there,” Drake added. “We need to be better than that, and I can absolutely assure you, we will move forward.”
“I am absolutely amazed by the video you just saw. In all goodness this should not have happened. This mother and her children should not have been subjected to this kind of behavior by our police department,” the boss added . Drake also criticized the officers for not allowing enough time for the family to answer the door.
“They knocked,” he said. “They did, in part, make an announcement, but it was completely unacceptable.”
The boss said the police department regrets the officers’ actions and will continue to work with the family.
The officers who withdrew their police force were identified as Jeff Brown, Harrison Dooley and Michael Richardson. An officer of professional responsibility will investigate their actions, noted WTVF-TV.
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