3 Nashville police officers decommissioned after raiding innocent family’s apartment

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Three Nashville police officers were decommissioned late Wednesday, and the metro police department has launched an investigation into the department’s execution of a search warrant on an innocent family’s residence.

The department released body camera footage of the 6:05 a.m. Tuesday incident in which officers used a battering ram to knock in the door of a home occupied by a mother and her two children. The subject of the search warrant, however, was a 16-year-old who did not live at the home and had not resided there for at least four months, The Tennessean reported.

“We have to be better than that, and I absolutely assure you, we will be moving forward,” Drake said in a statement released by the department.

Officers Jeff Brown, Harrison Dooley and Michael Richardson have been sidelined while the investigation determines why the officers used force considering the warrant did not involve a violent criminal, WVLT reported.

Drake called the evidence that led the officers to the apartment “stale” because it was based on a housing agency database that had not been updated since 2018. The family surprised by the Tuesday morning raid had moved in only four months ago, the TV station reported.

“In all candor, this shouldn’t have happened. This mother and her children should not have been subjected to this type of behavior by our police department,” Drake said.

Cox Media Group