Crime

ABC Student, Preacher, NAACP Branch President Fired From SRO Job

THE TENNESSEE TRIBUNE — While considering his options, a former school resource officer denies using unnecessary force when he protected a sixth-grade boy from a bully.

Published

6 years ago

January 20, 2019

Oakland Post

By Clint Confehr

COLUMBIA, TN — While considering his options, a former school resource officer denies using unnecessary force when he protected a sixth-grade boy from a bully.

Maury County’s Civil Service Board on Jan. 8 voted 4-1 to confirm Sheriff Bucky Rowland’s dismissal of T.D. “Donte” Byrdsong in December, Byrdsong and Rowland said.

“We’re still going through a process; waiting and praying that the truth will come out,” Byrdsong said.

Byrdsong is an American Baptist College student, a pastor, and the NAACP branch president here.

“No one wins in this situation,” Rowland said Tuesday. “It’s a very, very unfortunate incident … Deputy Byrdsong is a good man. He’s done a lot of good things in his time serving here at the Sheriff’s Department … I had to make the decision that I felt best that would best represent me and this department in how we go out and serve our citizens.”

Byrdsong’s attorney, Doak Patton, can file a civil appeal, and District Attorney Brent Cooper might present charges to a grand jury. No charge was filed by Tuesday afternoon.

In this story, the “bully” is Quentin; the victim, Juan.

Quentin “assaulted Juan two times” Nov. 30 and earlier, Byrdsong said. In a fourth incident, “I intervened and stood between [them at the gym]. Quentin broke the hold of a teacher and ran back in an attempt to assault Juan again. I was between the two, talking with Juan. When I looked up, I saw Quentin … deflected him with an open hand … [He] attempted to assault Juan again … I grabbed him and took him to the floor.”

WKRN and The (Columbia) Daily Herald quote Rowland from the board hearing: “You don’t deal with grown men on the street like this…

“Byrdsong cuts him off … turns the student and takes four or five shuffle steps away,” Rowland reportedly said, suggesting other controls, including handcuffs. But Byrdsong “chose to pick this student up above his shoulder and slam him to the ground.”

Asked about Rowland, Byrdsong said, “I really enjoyed working with [him] and his officers. I respect the leadership position … I have no ill things to say about [him] … In his opinion, the force used to defend and protect one child from a bully was excessive, contrary to [testimony of] Melvin Brown, an expert witness” who spoke to the Civil Service Board.

“Quentin has a history of violent and aggressive behavior,” Byrdsong said. “He’d already assaulted other students. This is a bully.”

Quentin’s parent alleged he suffered a concussion.

Of more than a dozen Maury SROs, only one is a woman, Byrdsong said. To his knowledge, he is the county’s second black SRO. Now, there’s none.

Maury County was 57 percent white, 41 percent black and 3.26 percent Hispanic in 2000.

Byrdsong, 27, started as a correctional officer in October 2017 at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution. He was certified by the Police Officers Standards and Training Commission in spring 2018. He became an SRO in spring 2018, was a patrol deputy during summer break, and resumed SRO work last fall. His salary was nearly $16 per hour.

“There’s some financial hardship for lack of employment,” said Byrdsong, executive pastor of Grace United Baptist Church, Columbia.

This article originally appeared in The Tennessee Tribune.

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The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of January 15 – 21, 2025

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‘In 2024, We Had a Decrease in Shootings and Killings,’ Says Oakland Mayor Nikki Bas and Ceasefire Leaders

“The Ceasefire Strategy is once again being properly implemented and fully executed by all its partners as a data-driven gun violence reduction strategy. It is reducing gun violence in the City of Oakland with remarkable results and tangible improvements. The leadership of Rev. Damita Davis- Howard, Ceasefire director, Dr. Joshi of the Department of Violence Prevention, and the Ceasefire Strategy partners must be commended for this incredible work in ensuring public safety,” said Pastor Michael Wallace, Oakland Public Safety and Services Oversight Commission member.

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January 7, 2025

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Some faith and community leaders who attended the year-end Ceasefire press conference are (left to right): Rev. Damita Davis-Howard, Oakland Mayor Nikki Fortunato Bas, Rev. Michael Wallace, and Brooklyn Williams. Photo by Kevin Hicks.

From Oakland City News Sources

Oakland’s Ceasefire partners, including representatives from the City of Oakland Department of Violence Prevention (DVP), Faith in Action East Bay, and other community leaders held a press conference Monday to discuss year-end reductions in gun violence and share community support for the Ceasefire Strategy.

“Our communities have never wavered from our support of the Ceasefire Strategy. We knew in the beginning that Ceasefire saves the lives of Oakland’s most vulnerable,” said Alba Hernandez, Faith in Action East Bay.

According to the DVP, Oakland will finish 2024 as the safest year since the start of the COVID pandemic. As of Dec. 23, there has been a 35% decrease in murders accompanied by a 33% reduction in nonfatal shootings compared to 2023.

As Oakland’s primary violence reduction strategy, Ceasefire seeks to identify individuals at very high risk of being involved in gun violence. Those high-risk individuals who are arrestable are prioritized for law enforcement action. Others at the highest-risk are informed of their risk and offered intensive community-based services such as life coaching, workforce development, and mental health care.

Ceasefire operates through close coordination and collaboration between the Mayor’s Office, DVP, the Ceasefire director, Oakland Police Department, and the Alameda County Probation Department, with the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (NICJR) and California Partnership for Safe Communities (CPSC) providing training and technical assistance.

“I am extremely grateful for the successful resurrection of the Ceasefire Strategy and for the historic declines in shootings and homicides that followed in just one year. I am proud to have worked with [former] Mayor Sheng Thao to reinvest in Ceasefire, and I commend the leadership of Brooklyn Williams in the Mayor’s Office, who has assembled a committed team that is saving lives every day,” said Mayor Nikki Fortunato Bas.

Said Pastor Hopkins, Lakeshore Avenue Baptist Church, “I have been a pastor in Oakland for 36 years, and for each of those years the number of homicides has been a crisis in our community. Ceasefire is an answer to prayer because it serves to save lives by stopping the shooting and serving as a lifeline to healing,”

“The Department of Violence Prevention is grateful for the on-going support of Faith in Action East Bay and committed community leaders,” said Dr. Holly Joshi, chief of the DVP.

“Their vision to bring the Ceasefire strategy to Oakland over a decade ago, advocacy for its initial implementation, and determination to see it successfully re-rooted are commendable. With Ceasefire fully up and running, DVP life coaches and violence interrupters are in communities every day working with high-risk individuals, mediating conflicts, and preventing retaliatory violence. Through hard work, focus, and partnership, we have made significant progress this year in reducing gun violence,” said Joshi.

“The Ceasefire Strategy is once again being properly implemented and fully executed by all its partners as a data-driven gun violence reduction strategy. It is reducing gun violence in the City of Oakland with remarkable results and tangible improvements. The leadership of Rev. Damita Davis-Howard, Ceasefire director, Dr. Joshi of the Department of Violence Prevention, and the Ceasefire Strategy partners must be commended for this incredible work in ensuring public safety,” said Pastor Michael Wallace, Oakland Public Safety and Services Oversight Commission member.

“The Oakland Ceasefire Strategy is one of the most comprehensive, intelligence-led violence reduction initiatives I have had the privilege to be a part of and fully support,” said Oakland Police Department Chief Floyd Mitchell.

“The 2024 violent crime reduction data realized by the City of Oakland underscores the effectiveness of our unwavering focus, strategic emphasis, and strong collaborative partnerships within the Ceasefire framework,” Mitchell continued. “Thanks to the dedicated efforts of the Oakland Police Department, and the invaluable contributions of our community, county, state, and federal partners, Oakland has achieved a 34% decrease in homicides, a 33% decline in firearm-related assaults, and a 25% reduction in robberies.”

“Oakland is once again a national leader in gun violence reduction,” said David Muhammad, executive director of NICJR. “Through the hard work of community violence intervention workers in partnership with city staff, police officers, Alameda County Probation, and others, many lives were saved in Oakland this year.”