‘She’s a baby!’ Panhandlers bring small children dangerously close to traffic

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - A disturbing scene is playing out at busy intersections across Middle Tennessee: panhandlers bringing young children dangerously close to traffic as they ask for money.

Officers call it risky behavior and WSMV4 Investigates captured multiple instances in and around Nashville.

On a Monday in April, Metro Nashville Police Department Officer Alceus responded to the I-40 West offramp at White Bridge Road. His body camera captured a two-year-old girl standing along the road just feet away from multiple lanes of traffic exiting the interstate.

The little girl was with two adult women who appeared to be panhandling.

“It is dangerous for her to be on the road,” Ofc. Alceus tells the women. “You have your two-year-old out here while you guys are panhandling. That is a big no-no. She can run inside the street and she can get hit.”

It’s happening across the Midstate

In August, WSMV4 Investigates found a man, woman and child in the same spot.

“Do you think that’s safe?” WSMV4 Anchor Amanda Hara asked the man as he walked from car to car asking for money. He told her, “It’s not your problem.”

On another day, at the same section of the I-40 off-ramp, cameras captured another pair of adults with a small child. Again, they were just feet away from multiple lanes of traffic.

A woman holding a baby was spotted crouching in the grass while a man asked for money from drivers inside cars exiting I-449 at Hillsboro Pike.

Similar cases have been reported outside of Nashville. The Murfreesboro Police Department shared a 911 call from a woman concerned about what she saw on the I-24 Exit 81 A off-ramp on May 23, 2023.

“There’s a man right there...with what looks to be an infant in the blanket. I’m just concerned, if they don’t have food and money and a place to live, about this child,” the caller told a dispatcher.

Police responded to the scene and found a couple with a child soliciting in the area. The officer asked the couple to leave the off-ramp, according to Murfreesboro Police Department spokesperson Larry Flowers.

What role does DCS play?

Kate Greer, Director of the Human Trafficking Team with the Tennessee Department of Human Services, shared insight on when and how DCS responds in these circumstances.

“Your heart kind of aches for these children,” WSMV4 Anchor Amanda Hara said. “Very much so, very much so,” replied Greer.

She said these situations warrant a response from DCS but more information would need to be gathered in order to launch a DCS investigation.

“In itself, poverty, needing money, wanting money in that manner is not necessarily abuse or neglect, nor is it against the law. We look at things like: are they being harmed, are they being neglected, are they supposed to be in school,” Greer explained.

When DCS responds to concerns about children in panhandling situations, Greer said the goal is to offer help.

However, a couple panhandling along a West Nashville interstate off-ramp told WSMV4 Investigates they didn’t want help. “It’s not your problem, I don’t need nothing,” the man told WSMV4 Anchor Amanda Hara, even though the sign he was carrying said he needed help.

Ofc. Alceus got a similar response from the people he approached.

“Do you need help with housing, help with food, help with anything so that we know how to better help you?” Ofc. Alceus asked. The women declined the help.

Ofc. Alceus warned the women, “This will not happen again because if it does, it’s going to be a problem.”

But, what if it does happen again?

Can police make arrests?

Metro Nashville Police Department Public Information Officer Don Aaron said officers can take action under Tennessee Code § 39-17-307 which makes it illegal to obstruct a passageway or ignore a request by emergency responders to move.

Officers with MNPD have used that code to arrest 157 people since 2023. It’s unclear whether any of them were panhandling with small children.

Greer said DCS encourages people to report any situation where they believe a child is in danger. Oftentimes, Greer said, the panhandlers move so quickly they are gone in the 15 minutes it takes DCS to respond to a scene.

Sometimes, officers who respond will call DCS to investigate. Other times, Greer said, they resolve the situation on their own.

Greer commended Ofc. Alceus for his relentless effort to offer help to the women and child he encountered, “There certainly are times police respond and they determine they can offer help, which is what that officer did and that’s fantastic. They can resolve the situation there in the moment.”

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