A high-ranking Nashville police officer is retiring after facing discipline for alleged sexual harassment. The department learned about the allegation from Silent No Longer, a local organization that advocates for employees who say they have been mistreated by fellow police.
David Leavitt is the second Metro Nashville police captain to retire amid disciplinary proceedings. And it was not the first time Leavitt had been punished after a report of sexual misconduct.
In 2011, Leavitt was suspended 10 days for sending inappropriate messages to a Black, male subordinate through the department’s internal messaging system. According to police records, Leavitt, who was a lieutenant at the time, sent messages about his appearance, told the officer he played favorites and liked to drink with his team to get to know them better, and offered to get the young officer out of a work assignment if he was “bringing the bottle.”
At the time, the department chose not to charge Leavitt with sexual harassment but did discipline him for conduct unbecoming of a police officer and not acting in a responsible manner.
A few years later, Leavitt was punished for using a police database to search a romantic partner’s criminal record 46 times. That didn’t stop him from getting promoted to captain in 2019.
In this latest case, another Black, male officer said Leavitt sent him “flirty” and “sexual” messages on Facebook. The officer told investigators that Leavitt made comments about his sex life, asked him multiple times to attend a workout class he teaches and even invited him to his home.
All this made the officer uncomfortable. His friends told him to report it, because they said Leavitt had done similar things in the past. One colleague who was also interviewed by the department said she had “heard from multiple people that Captain Leavitt’s behavior of sexually harassing males has been an ongoing issue for years,” according to a report reviewed by WPLN News
But the officer told investigators he was afraid to report the captain, because he “was not trying to get anyone in trouble” and worried he would face retaliation. He only agreed to speak with the Office of Professional Accountability after investigators learned about the messages through Silent No Longer.
“He stated he knew retaliation had happened before in the police department, so he does not want his name associated with this incident,” investigators wrote in their report. “He does not want people to know that Captain Leavitt was flirting with him.”
In an interview with investigators, Leavitt denied that he had violated the sexual harassment policy and said he didn’t think his comments had made the officer uncomfortable. The officer disagreed.
The police department ultimately charged Leavitt with sexual harassment. He’s serving a 20-day suspension and got bumped down a rank from captain to lieutenant, but he’ll be allowed to retire in good standing, according to MNPD.
A pattern in the disciplinary system
Leavitt’s case reflects a larger pattern detailed in a recent investigation by WPLN News and APM Reports, which uncovered disparities in discipline within the Metro Nashville Police Department. More than 20 current and former employees have described a system that often protects those who face allegations of misconduct, if they have allies in the upper ranks, while punishing those who challenge the status quo — particularly women and people of color.
More: Behind The Blue Wall: Officers Describe A ‘Toxic’ Culture Within Metro Police
In the past decade, white men like Leavitt who were accused of policy violations faced lower rates of suspension, demotion and termination than nonwhite employees. But police who reported misconduct sometimes became the subject of their own disciplinary investigations. Others never came forward, because they feared retaliation.
MNPD has said that its disciplinary system is fair and that it does not retaliate against employees.
Leavitt’s retirement comes on the heels of the departure of Capt. Jason Reinbold, who retired in good standing last fall.
Reinbold had also been accused of sexual misconduct, but he was not punished for it. About a year and a half ago, a female officer had told the city’s human resources office that the captain had locked her in his office and groped her — an allegation Reinbold denied and HR could not prove or disprove without physical evidence. The police department never conducted its own investigation.
Later, Reinbold was investigated for making unauthorized copies of the department files of people who had spoken against him. He left the department after serving a 10-day suspension.
Nashville’s civilian-run police oversight agency has asked MNPD to make Reinbold ineligible for rehire. The department is considering their recommendation.
This story was produced as part of APM Reports’ public media accountability initiative, which supports investigative reporting at local media outlets around the country. Support also came from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
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