A police captain with the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) is slated to hold a “webinar” for law enforcement to discuss the “lessons learned” from the Covenant School shooting last year, including factors which potentially led Audrey Elizabeth Hale to commit her horrific crime.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of Justice Programs (OJP) reveals Captain Steven Bowers “will provide an overview, review factors that may have contributed to the violence, and share lessons learned on effective prevention, response, and recovery strategies” learned in the aftermath the Covenant School shooting on March 27, 2023 in a “webinar” to be held on February 29.
Following the webinar, Bowers (pictured above) will engage with the audience “with questions about lessons learned in the event” and will help participants “[i]dentify specific opportunities and strategies to prevent and effectively respond to school violence,” among other goals.
Though the webinar is free to attend, the OJP explained, “Due to the nature of this presentation, participation is limited to sworn law enforcement personnel and advanced registration is required.”
While the listing identifies Bowers as “the commanding officer with MNPD’s School Safety Division at the time of the shooting,” a MNPD press release indicates he did not rise to that position until days after the tragedy.
The March 31, 2023 press release by MNPD Chief John Drake indicates Bowers “is being promoted to captain effective tomorrow and will lead the police department’s School Safety Division.”
Then a 16-year-veteran of the MNPD and a lifelong Tennessee resident according to Drake’s press release, Bowers served in the Office of Alternative Policing Strategies until that promotion.
In October, Bowers was featured in a MNPD video posted to social media that appeared aimed at recruiting new officers to the department.
“Growing up, I always had the passion to help people. Not only to help people in my neighborhood, but also to help somebody else,” Bowers explained in the video, calling his work as a police officer “living the dream.”
In that interview, Bowers also stressed the importance of diversity within his career at the MNPD, which he described as more diverse than ever.
“I’ve been on the police department for 14 years, and we have the most diversity that I’ve seen,” Bowers explained. “I’ve talked to people in the community, and they appreciate you having people that look like them.”
He added, “I know it’s important for other young, black men to look at me and say, ‘If he can do it, I can do it.'”
The webinar comes as the legal dispute over the release of the manifesto written by Hale, who reportedly identified as a transgender man before her attack at the Covenant School, which resulted in the deaths of three students, three faculty members, and Hale.
Star News Digital Media Inc., the parent company of The Tennessee Star, is a plaintiff in the lawsuit seeking to compel MNPD to release the lawsuit, and last year launched a separate lawsuit against the Federal Bureau of Investigation seeking to compel the manifesto’s release.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and the Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
So….Nashville is going to compete with Mempica for most screwed up city in TN. But I gotta give props to Crapanooga for their valiant attempts to take second place.