Council members and advocates are pushing for Metro Nashville Police to institute a zero-tolerance sexual misconduct policy. It’s the latest effort in a years-long campaign to address sexual harassment among officers inside the department and to reform internal investigations.
At a press conference Tuesday afternoon, the organization Silent No Longer – founded by former police officer Greta McClain – was joined by Nashville Organized for Action and Hope and Councilwoman Joy Styles with multiple demands to reform MNPD.
They’re calling for a memorandum of understanding between the police department and the community review board – formerly known as the community oversight board before such boards were eliminated by the state legislature.
They are also asking for a timeline for the investigative report into the claims made by retired Police Lieutenant Garet Davidson. Davidson’s 61-page complaint became public in May and laid out allegations that MNPD officials worked with the state legislature to abolish community oversight boards and intervened in internal investigations.
And they want MNPD to change its sexual misconduct policy.
In response, MNPD sent a statement from August that says the department “does have a zero-tolerance policy.”
Spokesperson Kris Mumford included part of the department’s manual on harassment and discrimination that states, “this department shall take direct and immediate action to prevent such behavior, and to remedy all reported instances of harassment and discrimination. A violation of this order can lead to discipline, up to and including termination. Repeated violations, even if “minor”, will result in greater levels of discipline as appropriate.”
Mumford also said that the Community Review Board’s proposals are under review.
McClain has been advocating for a stricter departmental policy since 2020 when she helped more than 60 officers come forward with allegations of sexual harassment and even assault inside MNPD.
More: Behind The Blue Wall: Officers Describe A ‘Toxic’ Culture Within Metro Police
Her organization met with city leaders to come up with policy recommendations to handle sexual harassment claims — like outsourcing investigations and making them faster and more trustworthy.
Yet McClain says very few changes were made.
And today, she says problems persist — 30 current MNPD officers say that sexual harassment is still rampant within the department. But most have not reported the misconduct out of fear of retaliation.
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