PORTSMOUTH, Va. — A heartbreaking update about a Portsmouth teen is putting a lesser-known alert system in the spotlight.
One day after News 3 learned 19-year-old Daquan Rountree's body was found in the water near Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, we learned Portsmouth is joining the list of Virginia localities using Marcus Alerts.
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“This is real serious," Rountree's father, Gabriel said at a community-organized search for his son in December.
Gabriel Rountree pleaded for help on Dec. 19 as he spoke at the search.
The father said he last saw his son December 10 running naked from his home and threatening suicide.
On Jan. 9, Gabriel told News 3 his son's body was found in the water near Norfolk Naval Shipyard.
At the search back in December, the family echoed calls for a Marcus Alert.
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It's named for Marcus-David Peters, a biology teacher killed by Richmond police in 2018 amid a mental health crisis.
His sister, Princess Blanding, said the wounds never heal and is frustrated the alerts aren’t already mandatory statewide.
“That is problematic because a mental health crisis does not wait," said Blanding.
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The alert became law in 2020, but Virginia law enforcement agencies have a few more years to implement them.
At the time of the search for Rountree, the alerts weren't being used in the city.
“Marcus alerts are not an alert like the Ashanti Alert, like the Amber Alert, or like the Silver Alert," Jenkins explained. "There are only three alerts that are mandated by the state that we can provide."
The chief told News 3 there will be what he called a soft roll out of the alerts in January with full implementation expected to start in July.
“There are still a couple more components when it comes to hiring the staff," said Portsmouth Behavioral Healthcare Services Director Dr. Nathan Woodard.
Woodard has been working with the police department to implement the alerts.
“What we’re doing is coupling this with a team that we already have that has been implemented for, probably, about a year and a half now, called our Crisis Intervention Team," Woodard explained.
Woodard said one challenge with implementing the alert system is staffing.
“Hiring staff across the Commonwealth when it comes to licensed clinicians and nurses and so forth have been extremely difficult," Woodard said.
In Hampton Roads, the alerts are already being used in Virginia Beach, Hampton and Newport News.
At a news conference Tuesday about the Jan. 5 officer-involved shooting in Newport News that killed 43-year-old David Noteboom, Newport News Police Chief Steve Drew said Noteboom was having a mental health crisis, and the department did take advantage often Marcus Alert system when responding to his residence for a welfare check and to serve warrants.
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“We reached out to the CSB Board and the 988, which you refer to as the Marcus Alert, before we ever went to that location," Drew explained.
While the community grieves for Daquan Rountree, time will tell if the alerts can help someone like him in the future.
All localities in Virginia have to implement Marcus Alerts by 2028. Along with Portsmouth, the city of Suffolk also plans to implement the Marcus Alert System in July 2024.
