NASHVILLE, Tennessee — Members of the Nashville Fraternal Order of the Police said Tuesday they have serious constitutional concerns about the proposed Amendment One.
If voters approve it next month then city officials would create a community oversight board over the police.
Former FOP President Robert Weaver spoke for the organization at a press conference at the Nashville Metro Courthouse late Tuesday.
“There are several aspects of this legislation that are constitutionally questionable. There are issues we have (with this proposed amendment) that don’t address due process,” Weaver said.
“It appears this board is not set up for fact finding and truth finding. It appears this board is set up for some means of retaliation and retribution for a problem that doesn’t seem to exist.”
Weaver said this plan, if enacted, will waste $10 million taxpayer dollars. He called the proposed board “redundant” because there are other means for redress against the police already available in Nashville.
“You already have the ability to file a complaint with an officer’s supervisor. You have the ability to file with the district attorney’s office, the US attorney’s office, or the TBI and the FBI. There is even recourse through civil courts if you believe you have been wronged,” Weaver said.
“Amendment One as written is biased against police officers.
It presumes a level of malfeasance that is simply not there for the officers of the metro police department.”
Weaver went on to say police already hold themselves to high professional standards and accountability.
Davie Tucker Jr. pastor of Nashville’s Beach Creek Missionary Baptist Church, interrupted the press conference to say this is a racial issue.
“Make sure you get the optics here,” Tucker told the assembled reporters while pointing to members of the FOP.
“You’ve got a bunch of old white men who are talking. It is so strange that this becomes an issue for accountability.”
Tucker said Amendment One is not anti-police — and then he accused the FOP of not allowing black members, something Weaver adamantly denied.
“This is not a race issue,” Weaver said.
“It’s about behavior. It’s about activity. It’s about facts and evidence. It’s not race. We as police officers don’t make decisions based on race. We have to make decisions based on reasonableness and evidence.”
As The Tennessean reported, Nashville Mayor David Briley has a problem with the language in the ballot.
“Briley has cautioned that ‘budgeting by charter amendment’ would set a bad precedent. The referendum proposal would cost $1.5 million annually. He’s also said the current plan does not have buy-in from the Metro Nashville Police Department,” according to the paper.
Briley, the paper went on to say, also believes “electing representatives at the council runs the risk of politicizing a board where keeping politics out of decision making will be critical.”
As The Tennessee Star reported, if Nashville voters say yes then, long-term, many officers will feel less valued and they will resign, said Metro Nashville Council member Steve Glover.
As reported, this proposed oversight board, assuming the referendum passes, would have 11 members. Seven of those members would come from any part of Davidson County. The remaining four would come from Nashville’s economically distressed communities.
Metro Nashville Council members get to decide who serves.
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
Excellent…let the corrupt cops self-select themselves O U T. Any cop who does not welcome citizen oversight should not be a cop.
[…] As reported, FOP members previously said they have serious constitutional concerns over it. They said the $10 million plan is “constitutionally questionable,” doesn’t address due process, and is not set up for fact finding. […]
At a glance it appears Weaver and FOP fear a community oversight board. Why? As they try to make it about a secret agenda it seems they might fear their own motives being exposed including how they might conduct secret training for new recruits and veteran police through unconstitutional surveillance, stalking and harassment of innocent civilians. Do they use secret, unconstitutional watch lists to follow mothers and families and cause them fear, panic and terror as a training tool on streets in TN? Do they use the police and TBI air patrols to test unconstitutional surveillance technology invading privacy of law abiding citizens while disrupting peace and tranquillity of normally quiet neighborhoods? Does the MNPD Chief embellish stories of rampant youth crime sprees in upscale neighborhoods to support their expensive real time cameras and over budget expansion of harassing surveillance including widening pool of over zealous wanna be citizen cops? In general, is MNPD justifying a big budget for military weapons and big boy play equipment through questionable tactics, reports, watch lists, community harassment? Is creating panic and fear in the community fun for them? There could be so much to be uncovered in behavior and tactics and reports of MNPD. If they are 100% doing the right thing and abiding by our constitution including maintaining community expected high standards and high morals training of their officers and citizen police then they should be supporting this oversight board; it could help them in the future when controversial situations arise. Certainly they do not seek to be above the law. They should know it can work both ways and support it.
For Truth and Transparency: Enough with your sophistry. We know who is supporting this COB with funds and why. This is a blatant grab for money and power across the U.S. engineered by the org NACOLE. It is a full on effort by Soros-puppets, open borders, sanctuary city, neo marxist progressives to insert their power into Metro Nashville’s government and make money off our hard-earned taxes.
Why would we ever want a committee that can’t be voted out, that is not beholden to the voting public. And why don’t you trust the Metro Police Department to do their job? They have a multitude of their own oversight boards anyway. Don’t you trust them either?
Had the FOP interrupted a press conference being given by Rev. Tucker all hell would have broke loose. This proposed legislation was written by Justice for Jocques members and supporters. The same people who refused to acknowledge the evidence presented to them following the TBI investigation into the justified shooting of an armed felon. Facts and evidence will not matter. Not to mention that the Oversight Now people have stated this board was modeled after the Oakland oversight board which allows felons on the board.
So, a black so-called pastor told a blatant LIE to everyone that the FOP doesn’t allow black officers. Some real man of G*d that church has. Maybe he should compare the number of black officers that are members of the FOP and the number of white officers that are members of the Black Peace Officers Association. I won’t hold my breath waiting for an answer.
The police oversight board is just another step in the Left taking over Nashville.
An unelected community board, composed of lefty social justice warriors and BLM members costing millions with power over the Metro Police department and no accountability to anyone. What could ever go wrong?
They need a way to up vote comments….your is so succinct and accurate. More tax payer funds will be handed over to an unaccountable group who will constantly need ever increasing funding as a financial pacifier. It will NEVER be enough.
I’m proposing a Metro Davidson County Council Oversight Board of 13 members, 3 from The Tennessee Republican Assembly, 3 from the Tennessee Firearms Association, 3 from the Davidson County Republican Party, and one from the Davidson County La Raza.
Support the police! No oversight committee!