Nation IN BRIEF : TENNESSEE : Letters to Injured Officer Encouraged

Calls of support flooded a nursing home switchboard after the family of Gary Dockery, a brain-damaged policeman, said they feared a drop-off in visitors was hindering his progress. “We’ve been swamped with calls,” said Susan Showalter, a spokeswoman at the Signal Mountain, Tenn., nursing home where Dockery is staying. But doctors think too many calls and visits might confuse him and suggested that people send letters instead. Dockery, 42, was mute and motionless after he was shot in the forehead while responding to a report of a domestic disturbance in 1988. In February, he suddenly started talking. He didn’t stop for about 18 hours.