MEMPHIS, Tenn. — After two pool drownings in a week, Memphis Police Officers who specialized in outreach and others in the Oakhaven area gave kids a stern safety warning.
Kids and families gathered at the Healing Center on Tchulahoma Road for a regularly scheduled outreach event to treat kids to lunch and school supplies.
Rev. Dianne Young said the Healing Center regularly hosts events for families and kids, but when her church heard about the tragedies, Tuesday’s talk needed to address them.
“Guess what? He couldn’t swim. He got in the water, ended up in the deep end, and he drowned. He was buried yesterday,” one of the officers affiliated with the Community Outreach Program (COPS) told the group.
He was referring to teenager Cedric Walton, 13, who police said jumped the fence at a city pool on South Orleans and drowned July 5.
Exactly one week later, a five-year-old boy drowned in an apartment complex pool.
“The most important thing is that the parents and adults need to monitor their children and talk to them about trespassing or going into a place of water, a body of water,” Lt. Tyrone Currie said.
“We want them to know that water can be dangerous, especially if you don’t know exactly how to swim. And even if you do, you don’t know how deep the water is and what your limits are,” Young said.
Currie said the hope is for the community to find some way to teach kids to swim.
At the very least, Currie said kids who do not know how to swim need to stay out of the water.
Student Jamar Futrell said several of his friends did not know how to swim.
He said he took lessons and knows how to swim but still only jumps in when there is a lifeguard present.
“Water is, like, the most powerful thing, and it can take you out at any time,” Futrell said.
Currie said parents should warn their kids about more than just drowning dangers.
He said they should also talk about the dangers of trespassing.
Walton drowned at a city pool when it was closed.
