Nashville Residents Question Allegations of Police Overreach

An Alleged Attempt to Undermine Community Oversight

Nashville, a city that voted for police oversight in 2018, is currently embroiled in controversy as a complaint states alleged top MNPD officers worked to dismantle the Community Oversight Board (COB) from the inside. This claim was made by a retired Nashville police lieutenant who alleges that high-ranking department officials were involved in an effort to overthrow the COB, and that the department’s top leadership was aware of this directive.

Details of the Accusation

A 61-page detailed complaint was filed by Garet Davidson, a former lieutenant of the Office of Professional Accountability – the department known as internal affairs. The complaint claims a continuous pattern of misconduct in the highest tiers of Nashville’s police force.

Davidson reported an instance where a Nashville deputy police chief was rewarded a crystal award at an Office of Professional Accountability Division meeting for his contribution towards lobbying a Tennessee state law which prohibited community oversight boards. These boards serve the purpose of independently investigating police misdemeanors.

Nashville Stands for Police Oversight

The establishment of the Community Oversight Board was the result of a 2018 referendum when more than 130,000 Nashville residents voted in favor of increasing police accountability. Responding to a wave of police brutality and fatal shootings, the measure was passed by a citywide 20% margin and won a majority in 29 out of 35 Metro Council districts.

However, in 2023 the Tennessee legislature passed a new law that replaced these community oversight boards with less powerful community review boards. This change primarily affected Nashville, converting the once potent COB into a weakened review board.

Concerns and Consequences

The revelation of the complaint has instigated an emergency meeting by Nashville’s Community Review Board. The allegations of police misrepresentation and overreach have raised concerns about an agency attempting to overturn local law to enforce accountability internally. These activities, if validated, undermine the democratic process by irreverently dismissing what Nashville citizens voted for in 2018.

The current issue not only affects the operational integrity of the Nashville police department, but also has implications for discussions and agreements between the MNPD and community review boards. The complaint’s allegations have caused a likely delay in ongoing talks for a Memorandum of Understanding between the Community Review Board and the MNPD.

An Independent Investigation Initiated

In response to Davidson’s complaint, Metro’s legal department has engaged an independent investigator to dive into the matter. The investigator is Ed Stanton, an experienced Memphis-based attorney who specializes in internal investigations and had served as the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee.