NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — In the past year, the Metro Nashville Police Department has made significant strides in addressing violent crimes with over 3,000 arrests recorded.
However, a troubling trend has emerged, as 16% of these individuals have been rearrested while out on bond, sparking concerns among law enforcement and community leaders.
Metro Chief John Drake raised the alarm regarding the impact of low bonds on public safety. He points to recent cases where individuals released on bond have gone on to commit further crimes, including a murder suspect who — despite wearing an ankle monitor — became a suspect in another homicide.
"I would say the system overall continues to fail people. Once we arrest them and they’re back out, that’s a problem," Drake said.
One such case involved a man arrested for false imprisonment after following a woman in an elevator. Despite his arrest, he was able to secure release on a $3,000 bond, only to attempt to kidnap a teenage girl days later. The Nashville Community Bail Fund covered his bail.
Cyrus Wilson — the executive director of the Nashville Community Bail Fund — defended the organization's mission, emphasizing the Constitutional right to reasonable bail.
"We don't decide if they can get out. We don't decide if their charges matter that they should get out. We don't decide what that bail should be. A judge makes that decision," Wilson said.
Wilson — who spent 27 years in prison for a crime he claims he didn't commit — argues that pretrial detention should not be the default, especially when many charges are later dropped or dismissed.
"The Eighth Amendment to the Constitution says no one should be subjected to excessive bail. Systematically and as a community, we understand that it makes absolutely positively no sense to detain people before they are convicted of a crime," Wilson said.
However, voices like Verna Wyatt, co-founder of Tennessee Voices for Victims, offered a different perspective.
"They're going to create more victims. And sadly, many of these victims are murdered. There's no coming back from murder," she said.
Wyatt — who lost her sister-in-law to a violent crime committed by a released offender — argued that public safety should take precedence over lenient bail policies.
"If I let this person out — on bail on a very low bail or on with no bail or even an ankle monitor that they can clip off if they want to — is the public going to be safe?" Wyatt said.
Despite differing views on bail reform, both Wilson and Wyatt agree on the importance of providing resources to individuals upon release to prevent recidivism.
Chief Drake is calling on members of the judicial system to get together to find a way to address this problem.
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
