NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – A disturbing scene is playing out at busy intersections in Middle Tennessee: panhandlers bringing young children dangerously close to traffic while demanding money.

Officers are calling it risky behavior, and WSMV4 Investigates has captured several cases 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 sitting on the side of the road just steps away from several lanes of traffic exiting the freeway.

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

“It’s dangerous for her to be on the road,” Ofc. Alceus says to the women. “You’ve got your two-year-old here while you guys shake hands. This is a big no-no. She can run into the street and get hit.”

It’s happening across the Midstate

In August, WSMV4 Investigations found a man, woman and child at the same location.

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

Another day, on the same section of the I-40 exit ramp, cameras caught another pair of adults with a young child. Again, they were just steps away from multiple lanes of traffic.

A woman holding a child was seen crouching in the grass while a man demanded money from drivers inside cars exiting I-449 at Hillsboro Pike.

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

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

The police intervened on the scene and found a couple with a child who were soliciting in the area. The officer asked the couple to leave the exit ramp, according to Murfreesboro Police Department spokesman Larry Flowers.

What role does DCS play?

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

“Your heart hurts for these kids,” said WSMV4 anchor Amanda Hara. “Very, very much,” Greer replied.

She said these situations require a response from DCS, but more information would need to be gathered to launch a DCS investigation.

“In and of itself, poverty, needing money, wanting money in this way is not necessarily abuse or neglect, nor is it against the law. We look at things like: are they hurt, are they neglected, should they be in school,” Greer explained.

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

However, a couple who were along an interstate exit ramp in West Nashville told WSMV4 Investigates they didn’t want help. “It’s not your problem, I don’t need anything,” the man told WSMV4 anchor Amanda Hara, even though the sign he was carrying said he needed help.

Officer Alceus received a similar response from the people he approached.

“Do you need help with housing, help with food, help with anything so we know how to help you better?” Officer Alceus asked. The women refused help.

Officer Alceus warned the women, “This will not happen again because if it does, there will be trouble.”

But what if it happens again?

Can the police make arrests?

Metro Nashville Police Department Public Information Officer Don Aaron said officers may take action based on Tennessee Code § 39-17-307 which makes it illegal to obstruct a passageway or ignore a request to move from emergency personnel.

MNPD officers have used that code to arrest 157 people since 2023. It’s unclear if any of them were bothered with young children.

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

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

Greer praised Ofc. Alceus for his tireless effort to provide help to the women and children he encountered, “There are definitely times when the police respond and determine that they can provide help, which that officer did and it’s fantastic. They can handle the situation there on the fly.”

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