Nashville council approves changes to police oversight board, can subpoena on its behalf

Kirsten Fiscus and Cassandra Stephenson, Nashville Tennessean
·2 min read

Community oversight of the Metro Nashville Police Department will continue — albeit with far fewer investigatory powers — thanks to a unanimous vote by the city's council Tuesday.

A new state law curtails any scrutiny by the oversight board prior to the completion of internal investigations by the police department's Office of Professional Accountability, and limits the board's review to public records provided by the department.

Members of Community Oversight Now listen during the Davidson County Election Commission meeting Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2018, in Nashville. The election commission voted 5-0 to verify 4,801 petition signatures to add a proposed Metro Charter amendment creating a police oversight board to the Nov. 6 ballot.
Members of Community Oversight Now listen during the Davidson County Election Commission meeting Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2018, in Nashville. The election commission voted 5-0 to verify 4,801 petition signatures to add a proposed Metro Charter amendment creating a police oversight board to the Nov. 6 ballot.

One remedy will remain. The board will still have the power to petition Metro Council for subpoenas to compel witness testimony or production of documents. The petition must receive a majority vote from the council to succeed.

Nashville's current model of oversight was created after Davidson County residents passed a charter amendment in 2018 to create the board.

Metro Nashville Community Oversight Executive Director Jill Fitcheard said the state law preempts the will of the 134,371 Davidson County voters who cast their vote to establish Nashville's current model of oversight in 2018 following the killings of Jocques Clemmons and Daniel Hambrick at the hands of Metro police.

"The content of this ordinance isn't something that voters wanted in 2018, They voted for robust oversight with investigative powers," Fitcheard said Tuesday.

More: Nashville must rework its police oversight under a new state law. Here's what's proposed.

Even with access to the same documents, the after-the-fact style of oversight leaves the board with little power. No longer will they be able to make disciplinary recommendations to Chief John Drake, nor will they be allowed to investigate any claims that are part of a criminal complaint, a civil service review or part of pending litigation.

The legislation passed by councilmembers Tuesday night will take effect on October 27. It follows a state law passed during the last session and signed by Gov. Bill Lee in May.

While this ordinance was needed to preserve at least some form of police accountability, Fitcheard said she believes that there must still be litigation against the General Assembly's decision on behalf of those 134,371 voters.

Diana Brown attended Tuesday's meeting to share her objections to the state's actions with Metro Council members.

"The police cannot police themselves or investigate themselves," Brown said. "The Community Oversight Board gave the citizens some form of hope, belief of fairness, equality, assurance that respect would be achieved. Why fix something that was never broken? The lawmakers that proposed eliminating, reconstructing this present board did not take into consideration how the citizens feel."

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville council approves changes to police oversight board