NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — With an ongoing investigation into Tuesday’s Edgehill raid, neighbors question what’s being done to prevent these potentially dangerous mistakes in the future.
It may not have been a “no-knock” warrant by definition, but Kevin Williams is a neighbor who said Tuesday’s raid was as close as it gets.
On the long list of things that bothered Williams about what he saw in the body camera footage, the most frustrating was knowing kids saw it themselves.
“I’m so glad they didn’t bust in and start shooting and kill somebody. That’s what’s going to happen next,” Williams said.
The officers in the video were seen knocking on the door and identifying themselves, but many say it was the timing they had a problem with.
“She could’ve been in the shower or anything. Her kids are right there sitting on the floor with these guns drawn. That could scar those kids for life,” BJ Carter said.
Carter lives in the next building over and said he couldn’t help but put himself in the shoes of Azaria Hines, who answered the door that morning. As a parent himself, Carter says it’s troubling to know this response has become what we expect from law enforcement.
“I mean six o’clock in the morning? People are probably still in bed,” Carter said.
Metro Police Chief John Drake appeared to offer an apology to the Hines family during a press briefing on Wednesday, admitting that the actions of these officers were unacceptable.
Chief Drake says that “stale” information on the suspect’s whereabouts led them to a home the suspect had since moved from months earlier. The date from the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency database.
The database has reportedly not been updated since 2018, yet officers still used this information and obtained a key to the apartment that they later realized didn’t match the lock on the door.
“They know all this, but they still knocked on her door and busted it down,” Williams said.
Officers Jeff Brown, Harrison Dooley and Michael Richardson were decommissioned while the office of professional accountability conducts an investigation into why officers used force on a warrant that did not involve a violent crime.
In an unprecedented move for Metro police, Chief Drake said the department is also suspending all search warrants unless they’re approved by a deputy chief.
Tactical officers will now undergo additional training on how to handle issuing search warrants.
