New TN law tightens security guard training after Nashville death

Gov. Invoice Lee signed a regulation Wednesday that requires first assist, CPR, restraint and de-escalation coaching for personal guards working in locations licensed to serve alcohol.

The brand new measure, dubbed “Dallas’s Regulation,” comes after Dallas “DJ” Barrett died final August following a battle with guards at Dierks Bentley’s Whiskey Row in Nashville. It applies to each unarmed and armed guards statewide.

Nashville police mentioned Barrett, 22, was held to the bottom throughout the battle on the fashionable downtown honky tonk final summer time. A health worker later decided Barrett died of oxygen deprivation and dominated his loss of life a murder.

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Seven individuals, together with six guards and one other man, face reckless murder and aggravated assault prices in Barrett’s loss of life.

All of them are due in courtroom for a listening to on Aug. 18, data present. 

Barrett’s mom, Tammy Barrett, launched an announcement Wednesday praising Lee and state legislators for making the regulation a actuality.

“In the present day, my dream of constructing the institutions on Decrease Broadway safer for all patrons has been absolutely realized,” Tammy Barrett mentioned within the assertion, which was launched by her lawyer. “I can not conceive of a extra becoming method through which to honor the reminiscence of my son, Dallas Jordan Barrett, than passage of Dallas’s Regulation right this moment.” 

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Lack of licensing, guard coaching raised questions

The Tennessean first reported that 4 of the six guards charged in Barrett’s loss of life had been unlicensed. That prompted a sequence of disciplinary actions and fines from the state.

A Tennessean evaluation of state regulation additionally revealed unarmed guards employed solely by a proprietary safety group, like Whiskey Row LLC, weren’t required to finish any coaching to earn licenses. Whereas armed guards had been beforehand required to endure coaching, it didn’t particularly embrace first assist or restraint techniques.

Rep. Invoice Beck, D-Nashville, mentioned that evaluation, together with movies proven on information broadcasts, “horrified” him and impressed him to suggest the Home invoice. Senate Minority Chief Jeff Yarbro, D-Nashville, sponsored the invoice within the Senate.

WHISKEY ROW:4 safety guards charged in bar patron’s loss of life had been unlicensed, data present

Beck beforehand mentioned he hopes the brand new regulation prevents a loss of life like Barrett’s from occurring once more. He was particularly moved by Tammy Barrett’s story.

“As a mother or father myself, my coronary heart simply goes out to her,” Beck instructed The Tennessean in March. “I simply cannot think about your baby being out for an evening of leisure and being killed. It is simply horrendous.” 

Discover reporter Rachel Wegner at rawegner@tennessean.com or on Twitter @rachelannwegner.