Media

Sheriff’s Office “Safe Haven” Initiative Will Protect Unwanted Newborns

Release Date: September 29, 2006

The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office is coordinating an awareness campaign in conjunction with the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office, Rural Metro Ambulance Service, the Assisi Foundation, area hospitals and health clinics to ensure the safety of unwanted babies.

“The goal of this campaign is simple: to save the lives of babies.  The ‘Shelby County Safe Haven’ initiative sends a clear message to mothers who might consider abandoning or harming their babies,” said Shelby County Sheriff Mark H. Luttrell, Jr.

Sheriff Luttrell, Shelby County District Attorney General Bill Gibbons and representatives of other agencies involved in the “Shelby County Safe Haven” initiative will announce details of the program on Friday, October 13, 2006, at the Sheriff’s Office Administrative Conference Room, 9th Floor, 201 Poplar Avenue, in downtown Memphis, at 10:00 a.m.

In 2001, the Tennessee Legislature passed the “Safe Haven” law which allows a mother to voluntarily bring the infant to a “Safe Haven” facility without fear of prosecution.  The child must not show any signs of abuse and the infant must be 72 hours old or less.

 “The death of a baby is tragic, and we must go the extra mile to make sure it doesn’t happen.  Tennessee’s Safe Haven law was written to protect the parents of unwanted newborns from prosecution, but more importantly, it gives newborn infants a chance at life.  We hope the ‘Shelby County Safe Haven’ initiative will give confused parents the information they need to make the right choice about their baby’s life,” said Shelby County District Attorney Bill Gibbons.

The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office Special Projects Bureau researched “best practices” used by other communities and found a very successful “Safe Haven” program coordinated by the Blount County Sheriff’s Office in East Tennessee. Since that publicity campaign began, no babies have been abandoned in that county near Knoxville.

In Blount County, Rural Metro Ambulance Service answers a free 24-Hour Hotline for the “Safe Haven” program.  Rural Metro will also answer the Hotline for the Shelby County initiative.

 “Rural Metro Ambulance Service is delighted to be part of this initiative. Our dispatchers will guide mothers who might abandon their babies to the nearest hospital, medical clinic or child care facility. We will offer free transportation for the mother to the facility if necessary,” said Glenn Miller, Division Manager of Rural Metro Ambulance Service.  The “Shelby County Safe Haven” Hotline number is 1-877-768-3473.

The Assisi Foundation of Memphis also assisted in the project by providing almost $31,000 dollars to fund the community education campaign about the “Shelby County Safe Haven” program.

Clear Channel Outdoors Advertising has posted billboards about the initiative at these locations in the Shelby County area:

• Airways N of Park
• Broad W of Scott
• Chelsea W of Sunset
• Crump E of Mississippi
• Elvis Presley N of Norris
• Getwell S of Raines
• Horn Lake S of Peebles
• Jackson E of Bellevue
• Lamar N of Getwell
• Summer E of I-240
• Summer E of Pope
• Walnut Grove E of Scott

Medical facilities may contact the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office to receive free brochures, posters, and “Safe Haven” facility signs. Additional information may be downloaded from the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office website, www.shelby-sheriff.org. Look for the “Safe Haven” icon on the homepage.

For more information about the “Shelby County Safe Haven” initiative, contact Ms. Kim Hackney, the Sheriff’s Office Administrator of Planning, at (901) 545-5772.