Nashville’s new mayor said he is committed to implementing the new City Review Board despite controversy surrounding the body.
“Civilian oversight is important, and I am committed to getting our Civilian Review Board up and running as quickly as possible, Mayor Freddie O’Connell said Tuesday. “I have also confirmed that our human resources department will work with current employees who are in the unfortunate state-mandated position of having uncertainty surrounding how they are employed.”
In 2018, Nashvillians voted in favor of an amendment to the city’s charter that allowed the city to establish a Community Oversight Board.
Subsequently, the city established the board, which allowed appointed citizens to investigate allegations of police misconduct.
According to the city’s website:
The Board shall have the power to investigate allegations that Metro Nashville Police Department officers have committed misconduct against members of the public, as well as issue policy advisory and resolution reports assessing allegations of misconduct by the Metro Nashville Police Department, recommendations to agencies involved in public safety and the administration of justice, and have the option of establishing a monitoring program that provides an ongoing review or audit of the complaint process administered by the Police Department Office of Professional Accountability or equivalent internal affairs program in the Police Department.
However, earlier this year, the General Assembly passed a law banning such boards, which was later signed into law by Gov. Bill Lee (R).
That law mandated that Community Oversight Boards be abolished entirely, or required to follow a specific set of new standards.
“Under the law, each board must consist of seven members – all of which are to be appointed by the city’s mayor,” The Tennessee Star reported in May. “In addition, instead of investigating allegations of police misconduct and passing recommendations onto the police department, the new law directs the committee to forward complaints to police internal affairs. Then, police will investigate the claims brought forth by the board before forwarding their findings once the investigation is closed.”
The city’s legal director did not fight the state on the matter.
“When the legislature passed the new law requiring all police oversight boards to comply with new restrictions and requirements, we advised the COB leadership that Metro would not file a lawsuit challenging the law because we did not have legal claim [sic] we could file in good faith,” Legal Director Wally Dietz said Tuesday.
“Unlike other legislation that targeted solely Metro Nashville (Council size, Airport Authority, Fairgrounds renovations) the [Community Oversight Board] legislation affected police oversight boards in four cities: Nashville, Memphis, Chattanooga, and Knoxville. Also, the law applies prospectively to all local governments. That means the legislation did not violate the Home Rule Amendment of the Tennessee Constitution. We do not file lawsuits as a form of protest. We file only when we have solid grounds to do so.”
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on X / Twitter.
Photo “Freddie O’Connell” by Freddie O’Connell for Mayor. Background Photo “Metro Nashville Police Car” by Josh Beasley. CC BY 2.0.
