The Metro Nashville Police Department had their hands full when Alan Jackson played his final show in Nashville at the end of June.
It was back on Saturday, June 27 that the country music world came together for one very special night at Nissan Stadium. The star-studded Last Call: One More For the Road – The Finale concert was designed to be the ultimate send off for country music legend Alan Jackson, and that it was.
Along with Alan, the show featured an all-star lineup of Eric Church, George Strait, Luke Bryan, Luke Combs, Riley Green, Cody Johnson, Miranda Lambert, Little Big Town, Jake Owen, Jon Pardi, Thomas Rhett, George Strait, Carrie Underwood, Lainey Wilson and Lee Ann Womack. Basically a “name a country artist and they were there” kind of thing.
As you might imagine, the concert was one of the hottest tickets of the year. Every Alan Jackson fan wanted to be there for the icon’s last ever show, so the the stadium was sold out, the streets were shoulder-to-shoulder with the big video board was placed on Broadway for a public showing, and even the pedestrian bridge from the Lower Broadway area over to Nissan Stadium was filled up with people just trying to get one last listen of Alan Jackson live.
That many people on the pedestrian bridge did cause a bit of an issue, but it wasn’t anything the Metro Police Department couldn’t handle. The Horse Mounted Patrol in Nashville recently shared photos of how the pedestrian bridge looked during the concert, and saying it was packed would be an understatement.
And as they described, when a medical emergency happened on the bridge, the only units that were able to get there were officers on horseback:
Somehow, and some way, the Horse Mounted Patrol were able to break through the crowd safely and reach the person in need.
Music was blaring, people were jammed onto the bridge like sardines, yet the officers on horseback were able to part the sea of people and get to individual having a medical emergency. I think it’s safe to say that’s a miniature miracle, and the Metro Nashville Police say it all worked out for the best because of the extensive training officers go through:
“Mounted officers were able to safely move through the crowd, creating a path that allowed first responders to reach those in need as quickly as possible. In moments like these, every second matters, and our horses gave emergency crews the access they otherwise wouldn’t have had. What you don’t always see is what these horses overcome. Hundreds of feet above the Cumberland River, surrounded by blaring music, waving flags, thousands of shouting people, and crowds so tight they were brushing against them, they remained calm, focused, and professional. Their training—and the trust between horse and rider—made the difference.
Sometimes the work we do isn’t immediately obvious from the outside. A mounted patrol is about far more than visibility or tradition. It’s about reaching people when others can’t, creating order in chaos, and helping ensure that when someone needs us most, we can get there. No matter the crowd, no matter the challenge, the Metro Nashville Police Mounted Patrol will always do everything we can to get to those who need help. (First photo is mounted moving the crowd; the second photo is the crowd prior).”
Shoutout to the Horse Mounted Patrol unit for keeping their cool and helping those who were in need.
