Mt. Juliet Police Newsroom

3/18/22 11:00 a.m. Update: Tyerus was located, unharmed.

Mt. Juliet, Tenn. – Detectives are actively searching for a teen that left home after an argument with a parent. On Saturday, March 18th, 2023 around 2:00 a.m., 16-year-old Tyerus was reported as a runaway. He has not returned home since leaving after the argument. Detectives continue their efforts to find Tyerus, but they hope someone in the community can give information that will lead to his location.

If anyone has any information about the whereabouts of Tyerus, they are urged to call the Mt. Juliet Police Department at (615) 754-2550. Information can also be given anonymously by calling (615) 754-TIPS (8477) or via the Mt. Juliet Police Department website at http://www.mjpd.org/.

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3/18/23 7:00 a.m. Update: Jhalen was located, unharmed.

Mt. Juliet, Tenn. – Detectives are actively searching for a teen that did not return home after he attended an event at Green Hill High School. On Friday, March 17th, 2023 around 9:30 p.m., 16-year-old Jhalen was reported as a runaway. He could not be located at the school when his parents arrived to pick him up around 9:00 p.m. Detectives continue their efforts to find Jhalen, but they hope someone in the community can give information that will lead to his location.

If anyone has any information about the whereabouts of Jhalen, they are urged to call the Mt. Juliet Police Department at (615) 754-2550. Information can also be given anonymously by calling (615) 754-TIPS (8477) or via the Mt. Juliet Police Department website at http://www.mjpd.org/.

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Mt. Juliet, Tenn. – Three Mt. Juliet police officers graduated yesterday from the Basic Police School at the East Tennessee Regional Law Enforcement Academy in Morristown, Tennessee. Mt. Juliet’s newest police officers, Officers Michael Binns, Justin Ferrell, Jacob Smartt, and 37 other law enforcement officers across Tennessee, took part in a graduation ceremony for Class 127 at Walters State Community College.

Officer Jacob Smartt was honored as the top cadet in the Defensive and Tactical driving training.

“Our department is proud of their achievement! We look forward to seeing Officers Mike Binns, Justin Ferrell, and Jacob Smartt serve the Mt. Juliet community,” stated Police Chief James Hambrick.

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Mt. Juliet, Tenn. – The department continues to ensure routes near schools are safe for students, and the department’s leadership team met with Mt. Juliet High School leadership on Monday, March 13 to discuss the concern of dismissal traffic and parking near the school.

The concern stems from motorists and students not following the school’s designated traffic plan to properly pick up a student from school safely and/or not properly parking on school grounds. Motorists are parking in nearby neighborhoods to circumvent the school’s traffic plan, and students are parking on nearby streets and business parking lots to avoid parking on school grounds. The additional, unnecessary pedestrian traffic leads to additional road delays and potential unsafe situations, and nearby neighborhood residents are also frustrated with the additional vehicular traffic.

For afternoon pick up, students have the following safe options:

• A car rider who is picked up in an authorized, safe location that follows the school traffic plan
• A bus rider who loads the bus in an authorized, safe bus loading zone
• A student driver who parks in an authorized parking space at the school and follows the school’s dismissal plan
• A walker who walks to their residence within a safe walking distance from the school, using appropriate crosswalks and sidewalks

For afternoon pick up, motorists should not:

• Impede the flow of traffic by picking up a student while stopped in a travel lane
• Park on unauthorized private or business property to wait and pick up a student
• Park unlawfully on any public street that impedes the flow of traffic, blocks a driveway, or fire hydrant

Extra police officers will be deployed on roadways around the school to ensure motorists are driving safely. Officers will be enforcing any unsafe, unlawful driving behavior or illegal parking. The ultimate goal of everyone is to ensure students have safe routes to and from school. To ensure such, motorists and parents are strongly encouraged to follow the school’s traffic plan and further information provided by school leadership.

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Mt. Juliet, Tenn. – The Mt. Juliet Police Department is offering a $2,000 reward, which is in addition to the family’s $1,000 reward, for information that leads to missing Deavin Nicole Walker’s whereabouts. Deavin turned 37-years-old today and has been missing since February 26, 2020. Detectives and her family are very concerned about her. She was last known to be walking in the Willoughby Station neighborhood after telling a family member she was going to the store. She was reported missing on April 16, 2020.

Walker left her residence wearing a white shirt with green sweatpants, and she had a cell phone that is no longer working. She is a black female, 5’3″ in height, weighing 125 pounds, having brown eyes, and brown hair in dreadlocks with highlighted tips. She frequently visited the Lebanon area in the past.

If anyone has any information about the whereabouts of Deavin Nicole Walker, they are urged to call the Mt. Juliet Police Department at (615) 754-2550. Information can also be given anonymously by calling (615) 754-TIPS (8477) or via the Mt. Juliet Police Department website at http://www.mjpd.org/.

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Our department’s sincerest prayers and condolences are with Tyre Nichols’ family, loved ones, and the Memphis community.

The actions we have all witnessed in the released video footage are criminal, appalling, and indefensible. We watched as former Memphis police officers completely disregarded their oath of office and disregarded basic human dignity. Everyone should be heartbroken and angry as we process this tragedy.

The department unequivocally condemns the cruel, violent assault of Tyre Nichols by those former police officers. We commend the swift actions of the Memphis Police Department, investigative teams, and District Attorney to hold the former officers accountable for their actions.

The men and women of the Mt. Juliet Police Department dedicate themselves to the department’s core values of compassion, commitment, courage, competence, and integrity. As police officers, we swore an oath to uphold those values, support the Constitution, and honor the sanctity of human life. I reinforce our commitment to always represent the values of who police officers should be, and we will continue to work incredibly hard through our actions to grow and maintain the strong bond we already have with of our wonderful community, which we are all a part of.

I see firsthand the care and commitment Mt. Juliet’s police officers have for MJ, and they will always take care of this community.

– Chief James Hambrick

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Mt. Juliet, Tenn. – In a continued partnership to ensure routes near schools are safe for children, Police Chief Hambrick, his leadership team, and Mt. Juliet Middle School/West Wilson Middle School leadership all met on Thursday, January 19th to discuss the growing concern of unorganized, unsafe child pedestrian traffic during school dismissal.

The unsafe activity stems from motorists not following the school’s designated traffic plan to pick up a child from school safely. As a result, students are darting across Woodridge Place, Charlie Daniels Parkway, and even Mt. Juliet Road to get to a motorist or parent who is circumventing the pickup plan at a nearby private property parking lot or non-authorized area. Further, many children are not using crosswalks, motorists are stopping in the travel lanes to pick up children quickly, and children are even walking between cars in traffic. With the high frequency of dangerous activity, the school and police department are making efforts to ensure children are safe.

For afternoon pick up, students have the following safe options:

1. A car rider who is picked up in an authorized, safe location that follows the school traffic plan
2. A bus rider who loads the bus in an authorized, safe bus loading zone
3. A walker who walks to their residence within a safe walking distance from the school, using appropriate crosswalks and sidewalks

For afternoon pick up, motorists should not:

1. Impede the flow of traffic by picking up a child while stopped in a travel lane
2. Park on unauthorized private or business property to wait and pick up a child

“I’ve witnessed many scary moments with children darting across traffic, and this activity simply cannot continue,” stated Chief James Hambrick. “School leadership and I all understand that MJ Middle School has more students due to the continued construction of West Wilson Middle, which leads to more traffic. However, we must all work together to keep children safe, and the activity we have witnessed lately is far from safe. I hope everyone understands and will cooperate with the school’s plan to ensure dismissal is orderly and safe.”

On Monday, January 23, the department will begin to have extra police officers on roadways around the school to ensure motorists are driving safely. Officers will be enforcing any unsafe, unlawful driving behavior. The ultimate goal of everyone is to ensure children have safe routes to and from school. To ensure such, motorists and parents are strongly encouraged to follow the school’s traffic plan and further information provided by school leadership.

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