MNPD Archives - Tennessee Star

Metro Nashville City Council Votes to Increase Police Spending by $10.5 Million in Finalized Budget; Activists Disrupt Meeting

June 17, 2021June 16, 2021 Corinne Murdock

Metro Nashville City Council voted to increase its spending on Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) by $10.5 million, per the finalized budget. Mayor John Cooper approved the budget on Wednesday. Some of this funding will go toward the new southeast precinct, totaling up a 5 percent increase. Overall, the budget sits at around $2.6 billion.

Following passage of the budget during Tuesday’s meeting, the Nashville People’s Budget Coalition shouted down the council members during its 45 minute recess. As a result, the council was unable to continue its business on time.

Mental Health Clinicians to Join Metro Nashville Police on 911 Calls by June 28

June 9, 2021June 9, 2021 Corinne Murdock

Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) announced Monday that mental health clinicians will join officers on 911 calls through a Co-Response Crisis Intervention Program starting June 28. The pilot program was reportedly modeled after the Support Team Assistance Response (STAR) pilot program in Denver, Colorado.

“The MNPD’s first ever Co-Response Crisis Intervention [Program] (officers teamed with clinicians) begins 6/28. 16 officers from the North and Hermitage Precincts today begin 40 hours of crisis intervention training alongside Mental Health Co-Op staff in preparation for the start,” wrote MNPD.

Nashville’s Community Oversight Board Submits Hiring Recommendations of Increased Diversity, Implicit Bias History to Metro Nashville Police Department

June 5, 2021June 9, 2021 Corinne Murdock

Metro Nashville Community Oversight Board’s (COB) submitted their hiring recommendations, including diversity increases and bias history requirements, on Friday.

The COB made the decision to adopt and formally submit the report to the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) during their meeting last Wednesday.

Review Board Finds Metro Nashville Police’s 2019 Response to Nashville Bomber Was Inadequate

June 3, 2021June 9, 2021 Corinne Murdock

An after-action review board found that the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) 2019 response to a report of the Nashville bomber was inadequate. They noted that the follow-up to the August 2019 incident had multiple issues: namely, lack of documentation and insufficient information gathered. However, the review board also asserted that its analysis doesn’t mean that the bombing was preventable.

The After-Action Review Board concludes that there is no way to know for sure if the suicide bombing on December 25, 2020 could have been prevented. Law enforcement followed protocols and procedures regarding the 8/21/19 incident, however deficiencies were identified in how the follow-up investigation was conducted. An after-action report, by its very nature, invites the examiners to employ hindsight in reaching their conclusions. But there is danger in that. One must not assume that because certain good practices were not followed or certain actions were not taken, the outcome would have necessarily been different had those proper steps been taken. All we can say for sure is that following the best practices and being diligent creates the best opportunity for a good result next time.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Can’t Confirm Citizenship Status of Gunman Who Shot Metro Nashville Police Officer

May 25, 2021June 9, 2021 Corinne Murdock

Metropolitan Nashville Police Department at house in suburbs

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) couldn’t confirm the citizenship status of Salman Mohamed, the 22-year-old gunman who shot at Metro Nashville Police officers earlier this month. The Tennessee Star placed an open records request with USCIS, only to be told that Mohamed’s date and place of birth would be required in order to verify Mohamed’s citizenship status. The Star offered USCIS this information: Mohamed’s full name, age, last known residence, and date of death.

After assessing your request, and consistent with 6 C.F.R. § 5.3, USCIS FOIA has determined your request did not describe the records sought in sufficient detail to enable our personnel to locate such records with a reasonable amount of effort. A date of birth and place of birth should be provided for the subject of record in order to enable our personnel to locate such records with a reasonable amount of effort. Accordingly, this office is administratively closing your request pursuant to 6 C.F.R. § 5.3(c). This administrative closure does not prejudice your ability to submit a new FOIA request. (emphasis added)

Nashville’s Community Oversight Board Wants Metro Police to Increase Diversity Hires Based on NAACP-Prompted Report

May 14, 2021June 9, 2021 Corinne Murdock

Metro Nashville’s Community Oversight Board (COB) wants the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) to prioritize diversity when hiring. This came out of an advisory report focused on reforming MNPD hiring procedures, requested by the Nashville NAACP. In the conclusion of its report, the COB insinuated it wasn’t enough for MNPD’s current standards to hire applicants who are critical thinkers, empathetic, problem solvers, good communicators, and have integrity. They recommended that MNPD prioritize diversity more.

“The data analysis in this report shows that there are racial, ethnic, and gender disparities in the hiring process that should be evaluated and addressed so that the goal of diversifying the police force can become a reality,” read the report’s conclusion. “The eleven recommendations offered in this report aim to encourage community, transparency, accountability, equity, justice, and evidence as core components of the police department.”

Metro Nashville Officer Shot, Hospitalized After Responding to Call Set Up to Lure and Kill Officers

May 6, 2021June 9, 2021 Corinne Murdock

Three Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) officers were ambushed after responding to a 911 call alleging that a woman had been shot. One officer, Brian Sherman, was shot multiple times in the upper left arm and transported to Vanderbilt University Medical Center. According to MNPD, the call was a setup executed by an individual that police identified as the gunman, 22-year-old Salman Mohamed. His immigration status is unknown.

In a press conference late Tuesday night, Metro Police Public Information Officer Don Aaron explained that Salman falsely told the 911 operator around 6 p.m. CST that his brother had shot his mother, and that shots were continuing to be fired. Aaron explained that Mohamed answered the door when the MNPD officers knocked on the door of the residence identified in the 911 call about ten minutes later. Only Sherman was hit in the ensuing gunfire.

Nashville Attorneys Offers Up $2.25 Million Settlement for Daniel Hambrick Wrongful Death Lawsuit

March 8, 2021March 7, 2021 Corinne Murdock

Metro Nashville attorneys settled for $2.25 million with the parents of Daniel Hambrick in their wrongful death lawsuit. That settlement wouldn’t bring closure to the entirety of the ordeal, however. The settlement will not resolve a separate case concerning Andrew Delke, the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) officer who shot Hambrick. Delke still faces a first-degree murder charge.

By offering this settlement, Metro government clarified that neither they or Delke were admitting to any wrongdoing or liability. Metropolitan Director of Law Bob Cooper suggested that this settlement would help offer some closure for the community.

Metro Nashville Police Prepare for Possible Inauguration Day Protest at State Capitol

January 13, 2021January 12, 2021 Corinne Murdock

Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) revealed that it would be adopting a “heightened security posture” at the State Capitol on Inauguration Day. MNPD informed the Metropolitan Council of these measures less than a week after the Capitol Hill riot took place.

In a copy of the letter obtained The Tennessee Star, Chief of Police John Drake informed the council that several unique protests would occur leading up to and on Inauguration Day. He reassured them that there wasn’t any “indication of an imminent threat of violence or danger.”

‘I Believe in Heroes’: Downtown Features Mural Honoring Police Who Responded to Nashville Bombing

January 5, 2021January 4, 2021 Corinne Murdock

Downtown Nashville now features a mural honoring the six police officers who evacuated residents ahead of the Christmas Day bombing. Sergeant Timothy Miller and officers Brenna Hosey, Amanda Topping, Tyler Luellen, Michael Sipos, James Wells are depicted on a rendition of the famed “I Believe in Nashville” mural series. Their version of the mural reads, “I Believe in Heroes.”

The mural is located at the corner of 2nd Avenue and Broadway, just ahead of the site of the bombing. The street is still blocked off due to the wreckage being cleared away. The groups behind the popular Instagram pages dedicated to the Nashville community and the “I Believe in Nashville” mural series painted the mural with the permission of the building owner, Hard Rock Cafe Nashville. The mural is expected to remain until the window underneath is replaced. After that, it will be framed and hung inside the building.

Nashville Police Say There Was ‘No Evidence or Reasonable Suspicion’ of Anthony Warner Building Bomb Last Year

January 1, 2021December 31, 2020 Corinne Murdock

Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) stated that last year’s investigation into the Nashville bomber yielded no evidence or suspicion of a crime. Chief John Drake revealed those details in a statement on Anthony Warner, the bomber linked to the Christmas Day explosion in downtown Nashville.

Drake explained that MNPD were called by an attorney to address a suicidal woman with two guns last August. The woman at the scene was Pamela Perry, Warner’s girlfriend at the time. She reported to police that Warner was making bombs in his RV trailer, and stated that both guns belonged to him. The attorney, Raymond Throckmorton III, reportedly represented both Warner and Perry.

Metro Nashville Police Arrest Suspect in I-440 Shooting Death of Nurse Caitlyn Kaufman

December 12, 2020December 11, 2020 Jason M. Reynolds

Metro Nashville Police Department SWAT officers on Friday arrested Devaunte L. Hill in the December 3 murder of Nashville nurse Caitlyn Kaufman as she drove to work on Interstate 440, police said.

Hill, 21, was taken into custody at his apartment in the Berkshire Place complex on Porter Road in East Nashville, MNPD said.

Mayor John Cooper Announces Detective John Drake as New Metro Nashville Police Chief

December 1, 2020November 30, 2020 Jason M. Reynolds

Veteran Detective and Interim Chief John Drake has been selected as Metro Nashville Police Department’s new chief, Mayor John Cooper announced Monday at a press conference.

Drake, 56, is a Nashville native who began his MNPD career in 1988 and has served in a number of jobs throughout the department, the city said in a press release here.

Community Oversight Board Declares Use of Force Consent Decrees for Metro Police

October 30, 2020October 29, 2020 Corinne Murdock

The Community Oversight Board (COB) approved a report issuing use of force consent decree recommendations. Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) will work with the COB to implement these recommendations.
Mayor John Cooper tasked members within the Community Oversight Board to explore use of force policies following the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.