NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The Nashville Community Review Board (CRB) has unanimously approved a zero-tolerance sexual misconduct policy proposal for Metro Police, hoping they will adopt it soon. Passed on August 26, this comes as a push towards a 2020 policy drafted by then-Mayor John Cooper's Policing Policy Commission, which first recommended its creation.
The CRB says this policy is necessary to eliminate sexual misconduct within the MNPD and to protect the Nashville community, along with its officers.
"MNPD bears a crucial responsibility to address the issue of police sexual misconduct, not only to maintain the trust of the community, but also to uphold the department's reputation," the 34-page final draft of the policy says.
The drafted policy outlines many things, including proper definitions of sexual misconduct, the legal parameters for officers on duty, Tennessee laws on sexual misconduct, victims' rights, how to notice early warning signs and what to do if you are a supervisor, how to prevent sexual harassment, training and prevention tactics, and more.
The CRB said Metro Police have already taken some steps towards better policy surrounding sexual misconduct, such as a dedicated phone line for making reports of incidents and an employee video where the Chief says "harassment and discrimination would not be tolerated and when reported would be investigated thoroughly."
However, they believe more can be done — and that this is only possible through the "dedicated, explicit, zero-tolerance policy."
CRB cites many complaints made to them regarding police sexual misconduct over the past few years in defense of the policy. This includes a former female MNPD officer who was awarded $300,000 in compensatory damages in a harassment lawsuit against MNPD, and an MNPD officer fired for appearing in an OnlyFans promotional video wearing his MNPD uniform and badge.
"I think this Zero-Tolerance Sexual Misconduct policy is one of the bigger things we will tackle this year. We need to take a pause as a community and really think about what this policy will do for the citizens and for the employees of MNPD. It will change lives. It will change experiences," said CRB chair, Alisha Haddock.
The release ends with a call to the Mayor, City Council and MNPD to implement this policy to "protect our officers and the Nashville community."
You can read the full report online.
CRB is also encouraging anyone with questions or concerns to contact representatives, come to Metro Council meetings, or contact CRB with comments — their number is (615)-880-1886 and their email is community@nashville.gov.
Fostering Hope provides Christmas for kids in foster care. I'm delighted to see Fostering Hope expand this year to expand their reach to now include kids in Foster care in metro AND foster kids in East TN hard hit by Helene.
-Bree Smith
