Metro Nashville Council Member Joy Styles (District 32) on Monday stated that she noted an observable decrease in criminal activity following the opening of a new police precinct in Antioch last month, including fewer drag racers and street takeovers in the area.
“You can see a marked change in activity here,” Styles (pictured above) told Fox 17 on Monday. She stated to the outlet, “There are no more shutting down the corner of Murfreesboro Road and Bell Road because we have officers that are out here making their presence known.”
The precinct’s new, 24,000-square-foot building has been in operation since November 7, when the Nashville Metro Police Department (MNPD) said the precinct covers about 73 miles of the city, or almost 14 percent of Davidson County. MNPD also stated 83 officers will patrol the precinct.
According to MNPD, it is the ninth full-service police precinct in Nashville, and the first addition to the total number in 11 years.
It was opened about six months after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) detained nearly 200 illegal immigrants in Antioch last May. Those arrested included a convicted rapist, an MS-13 gang member, and drug traffickers from El Salvador and Haiti, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
DHS reported that the operation was successful despite opposition from Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell, who said that the state and federal law enforcement “do not share our values of safety.”
At the time, Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin described those arrested as “gang members, sex offenders, and other violent criminals,” and said the Trump administration “will continue to stand with victims and the brave ICE agents who are on the frontlines making America safe again.”
O’Connell claimed in November that the new precinct opened as the city reported “multi-year low crime rates,” and proved that MNPD “is meeting the challenge.”
The expansion and support for police expansion by O’Connell, a Democrat, and Styles, who holds a nonpartisan seat but was recognized by the Tennessee Senate Democrats, was one of many “Tennessee women who are making history” last year, despite the party’s leaders calling for law enforcement to be defunded less than a decade ago.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris, who recently confirmed she is considering another presidential run, herself said in June 2020 that activists calling for police to be defunded were “rightly” questioning the amount of money spent on police.
“This whole movement is about rightly saying, we need to take a look at these budgets and figure out whether it reflects the right priorities,” said the Democrat, according to CNN, during a radio appearance in New York.
“It’s not working. So, this is an important conversation and not just a conversation – cause to your earlier point, can’t just be about talk. It has to be about forcing change,” said Harris.
The former vice president made her first campaign appearance following her 2024 loss in Tennessee, when she appeared at an event held by State Representative Aftyn Behn (D-Nashville) during her unsuccessful congressional campaign. Harris is next expected to visit Tennessee in January as part of her book tour.
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Tom Pappert is a 2025 recipient of the Dao Prize and the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star. He also reports for the Star News Network. Follow Tom on X. Email tips to [email protected].
It would not have taken much to see a drop in crime in that area. I would never go there at night.