Tag: Nashville Fraternal Order of Police

Resigned Community Oversight Board Member Is a Convicted Felon, Not Registered Voter as Required by Tennessee Law

Corinne Murdock

Previous Community Oversight Board (COB) member Ovid Timothy Hughes somehow skirted the Tennessee Code’s standards for COB membership. Hughes isn’t a registered voter – he’s a convicted felon. That begs the question: the COB’s purpose is to ensure police accountability on issues such as misconduct, but what happens when the members themselves aren’t being held accountable?

The Tennessee Secretary of State’s office confirmed with The Tennessee Star that Hughes isn’t an eligible voter. They explained that he was purged in 2008 for a felony conviction. This corroborates with details The Star reported on Friday. Hughes was arrested and charged for mail fraud, spending over $78,000 on items such as computer equipment and designer clothing using stolen credit card and private account information from a former employer.

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Metro Nashville City Council Votes Exclusively for Social Justice Proponents to Serve on Community Oversight Board

Corinne Murdock

The Community Oversight Board (COB) received four new members – all bringing similar perspectives and agendas concerning police. Metro Nashville City Council voted on the nominees during a meeting on Tuesday.

None of the nominees from the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) – former mayoral candidate Dr. Carol Swain, former FOP President Mark Wynn, community members Mary Byrd and Brandy Holloway – were selected. Of all the votes cast, Holloway received no votes, Byrd only received one, Swain only received two, and Wynn received ten.

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Metro Nashville Council Committee Objects to Dr. Carol Swain’s Qualifications for Community Oversight Board

Corinne Murdock

Metro Nashville City Council’s Community Oversight Board (COB) might continue to behave more like a police oversight board. During a special interview meeting on Thursday, the council’s Committee on Rules, Confirmations, and Public Elections raised objections to only one nominee: Dr. Carol Swain. The committee also posed slanted questions to those nominees that had law enforcement relationships or affiliations.

Swain stated that her qualifications include her 18 years as a Vanderbilt political science and law professor, her degrees in law and criminal justice, her two appointments to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission Tennessee Advisory Committee, her courses taught on civil rights issues, and her multiple testimonies before Congress on civil rights issues. Additionally, Swain noted that while she was at Princeton University, her two sons experienced racial profiling and her intervention led to an investigation that ended with police reforms not just in the town of Princeton but within the community. However, the committee voted that those weren’t proper qualifications.

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Despite Bravery by Nashville Law Enforcement, Expert Explains Why Public Will Continue to Hear ‘Defund the Police’ Rhetoric

Chris Butler

Certain Nashville activists will continue their “defund the police” rhetoric despite the bravery that law enforcement officers displayed before and after last week’s explosion downtown, said Nashville Fraternal Order of Police President James Smallwood. As reported, a massive Christmas Day explosion damaged at least 41 businesses on Second Avenue and collapsed one building. Nashville Mayor John Cooper praised six uniformed Metro Nashville Police officers who he said saved several lives after they determined that a parked RV in that area was about to detonate.

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

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.

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Nashville Group Compares Abolishing Police to Integration and Abolishing Slavery

Chris Butler

Members of the grassroots coalition that wrote, petitioned, and campaigned for Nashvillians to create the Metro Community Oversight Board this week compared the idea of defunding police to some of history’s greatest civil rights accomplishments.

And members of this group, Community Oversight Nashville, also pushed socialism and communism as the best way forward for blacks.

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Nashville Fraternal Order of Police Endorses John Cooper for Mayor

Chris Butler

  The Nashville Fraternal Order of Police has endorsed mayoral candidate John Cooper. Cooper currently serves as an at-large Metro Council member. Nashville Fraternal Order of Police President James Smallwood told The Tennessee Star Thursday that FOP members voted to endorse Cooper. Smallwood would not say how many people voted because FOP does not release that information. “The reality is the members of the FOP are sent a ballot, and this is the result that we got,” Smallwood said. “Cooper got that (vote), and we do what our membership tells us to do.” The Star asked Smallwood about Nashville’s Community Oversight Board, a concept the FOP opposes. “When he was in Council Cooper voted against it,” Smallwood said. “When it came up for referendum I think he was supportive of it because he believes in accountability in all forms of government.” According to this week’s Nashville Post, Cooper “voted last week against a property tax increase that would have boosted police pay, but the police union picked him over Mayor David Briley, state Rep. John Ray Clemmons and former professor Carol Swain, who secured a significant chunk of police union support in the 2018 special election.” Cooper acknowledged the FOP…

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Tennessee, Nashville Officials Say All Is Well For Amazon to Open Operations Center With Up to $102 Million in Incentives

Jason M. Reynolds

Tennessee and Nashville officials say they do not expect Amazon’s brush-off of New York to affect the retail behemoth’s decision to open an operations center in Music City. Amazon last Thursday said it would not build its second headquarters in New York City, called HQ2, because of pushback there, The Tennessee Star reported last week. The retailer faced a battle from some politicians and others over nearly $3 billion in tax incentives, Breitbart said. Amazon was poised to bring 25,000 jobs to New York with a $2.5 billion investment in offices. Amazon said last week in a statement it would not reopen the HQ2 search. The company said it does plan to proceed with another headquarters site in Virginia. The company’s Music City plans have drawn criticism from some, including the Nashville Fraternal Order of Police, who said the city’s $15 million in incentives were “corporate welfare.” With the State of Tennessee offerings, the package is up to $102 million for 5,000 jobs for a $230 million operations center. Jennifer McEachern, communications director for the Tennessee Department of Economic & Community Development, spoke to The Star via email about Amazon. The Star asked her if the state would re-examine the tax…

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Legislature May Oversee Nashville Police Oversight Board, Citing Constitutional Concerns

Jason M. Reynolds

Nashville’s police oversight board may receive its own oversight – before it even launches. Ever since Nashville-Davidson County voters approved the $10 million-plus oversight board in a Nov. 6 referendum titled Amendment 1, prompting concerns from police officers, leading Tennessee Republican legislators have set their sights on the initiative. The board has broad powers to investigate officers and call for punishments by the District Attorney, grand jury, or U.S. Attorney, and can even compel witnesses, according to its Metro Nashville webpage. Nominations to the board are due today. Speaker-elect Rep. Glen Casada (R-TN-63), plans to study the oversight board when the Legislature convenes in January, NewsChannel 5 said. “This is an issue we will investigate further when session begins in January with all interested parties and stakeholders that have concerns about Amendment 1 and its impact on law enforcement,” Casada said. “The safety of our citizens is paramount and we must ensure our counties and municipalities do not violate the state’s constitutional duty to protect all Tennesseans.” State Rep. William Lamberth (R-TN-44), the incoming House majority leader, told Nashville Public Radio the board is redundant since there are other methods to oversee police. “To spend an enormous amount of money…

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Metro Nashville Police Officers Begin Test Run of Expensive Body Cameras

Jason M. Reynolds

Metro Nashville plans to roll out body cameras on all officers in 2019, adding another costly layer of regulation to law enforcement. A few officers began testing body cams last week, Nashville Public Radio said. The city and community advocates have pushed for this oversight since at least 2016. The need to follow detailed city procurement procedures with specific timelines in the request for proposal is one reason the process is taking time. The program involves multiple rounds of solicitations, according to the city’s RFP. The plan is to provide cameras to place on 1,500 officers as well as on 870 car dashboards. Video would be stored either on-site or on the cloud. [pdf-embedder url=”https://tennesseestar.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/NashvilleRFP.pdf”] Mayor David Briley earmarked $15 million for the program, but the final cost is not clear, NewsChannel 5 said. The District Attorney’s office has asked for 49 more workers just to handle film footage for court. A total of 21 officers are using the body and dash cams on a 90-day test run, WSMV said. This comes more than a year after the Metro Nashville Police Department first tried testing body cams. A Nashville Fraternal Order of Police representative said that officers will welcome the…

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Justin Jones Outburst Proves Civilian Oversight Board a Bad Idea, FOP Says

Chris Butler

The disruptions at last weekend’s Marsha Blackburn rally, and protestors’ lack of understanding of the law, make a good case against a proposed Civilian Oversight Board, said the president of the Nashville Fraternal Order of Police. The belligerent attitudes of the people who caused those disruptions also make a good argument against the proposed board, said FOP Andrew Jackson Lodge No. 5 President James Smallwood. As reported, Vandebilt Divinity School student Justin Jones, who moved to Nashville in 2013 from Hercules, California to enroll at Fisk University, attended the rally at the Ray Stevens CabaRay Showroom. Organizers of the private event — on private property — recognized Jones as a troublemaker at previous events. They asked Jones to leave. Jones refused, because he said he had a right to attend, regardless. “I think Mr. Jones’ lack of understanding of how the law actually works is a perfect example of why we don’t need a civilian oversight board, as written. Mr. Jones violated the law. He refused to comply with police orders and, unfortunately, he was resistant and non-compliant and caused officers to have to go hands on,” Smallwood told The Tennessee Star. “Now, I didn’t see any kind of abuse…

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Police Civilian Oversight Board Redundant, Expensive, Denies Due Process of Officers: FOP President

Jason M. Reynolds

A civilian oversight board for the Nashville Metro Police Department “sounds like a warm and fuzzy,” but one expert says that is not the case. James Smallwood is president of the Nashville Fraternal Order of Police. “People immediately think, ‘Well, that’s a great idea,’” Smallwood told The Tennessee Star this week. A circuit court judge in September ruled against the Fraternal Order of Police in a lawsuit the group filed trying to throw out a referendum to establish a community board overseeing Metro Police, News Channel 5 said. Once you get into the minutiae, it becomes apparent the Amendment 1 initiative that is on the Nov. 6 ballot will have a “massive cost” of $10 million over five years, Smallwood said. That is more expensive than any comparable civilian oversight board in the nation. That is not a viable option when the city is in dire financial straits. The board also would be redundant, he said. There are at least eight layers of oversight of Metro Police already, including civilian and government agencies. The new board would not give police equal representation – there are no regulations on who can sit on the board, other than they cannot be officers or married…

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Nashville Fraternal Order of Police Deliver Blow to Briley Mayoral Campaign, Vote Not to Endorse Him

Tennessee Star Staff

On Monday, the Nashville Fraternal Order of Police dealt a blow to the campaign of Acting Mayor David Briley, the front runner in the May 24 special mayoral election, when they decided not to endorse him. “The FOP Mayoral endorsement process has concluded. Our endorsement rules require that a candidate receive at least 50 percent of the total ballots returned, plus one, in their favor. Based on that information, none of the candidates running received the total needed to receive our endorsement,” the NFOP said in a statement released to its members. “Thank you for taking the time to participate in the voting process. If there shoud be a runoff vote, we will conduct another ballot at that time,” the statement continued. Briley finished in first place with 41 percent of the vote, well below the required 50 percent needed to obtain the NFOP’s endorsement. The NFOP endorsement vote percentage was virtually the same as the 43 percent support Briley received in a Tennessee Star Poll of the mayoral race released last Monday. As is the case with an NFOP endorsement, Briley will need to receive 50 percent of the vote in the May 24 special election to avoid a runoff…

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