NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Monday morning, dozens showed up to a breakfast with Mayor Freddie O’Connell. They echoed concerns after the Community Review Board (CRB) said that it's been "gutted" from recent legislation regulating police oversight groups across the state.
“Do you believe that the Community Review Board should have every power that's legally available to them as it stands right now?” CRB Chair Alisha Haddock asked. “What we have is a very conservative look and read of the law and the ordinance where we cannot get much done.”
The mayor doubled down on his support for the CRB, standing by the independent investigation he's called into a 61-page whistleblower complaint.
“The reason that they exist is accountability and as someone who voted to install it in the first place and took the first actions to ensure that's continued, we will continue to work on this,” O’Connell said.
O’Connell also commented on the whistleblower behind the complaint.
“This individual who has released these allegations has not done his own credibility any favors in his subsequent actions where he is going around talking to folks that are not supporting any of the things that we are talking about in this room right now," O'Connell said. "His first stops were conservative talk radio and I would go ahead and venture that this is problematic.
One part of the complaint claimed that Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) personnel worked with lawmakers to draft new CRB regulations. MNPD denied that claim.
Supporters of the legislation said that it was meant to model Knoxville’s police oversight board, which was created in 1998 after a string of police brutality.
“The bill that Senator Pody has is modeled exactly on the Knoxville model. We have a 25-year history of this working,” said Senator Richard Briggs, (R-Knoxville).
News 2 tried to reach out to bill sponsors to ask if MNPD had weighed in on the legislation, but we are still waiting to hear back.
During discussion in the statehouse, supporters said that recommendations from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) director David Rausch helped form the legislation.
"There has been concerns among the TBI and the police departments that with some of these other community boards, what they're permitted to do is that crime scenes can be contaminated and the truth can't come out because evidence is compromised,” Briggs said.
Nashville’s CRB leaders told News 2 that they weren’t sure where those claims came from, but they had reached out to the TBI for clarification.
O’Connell said that he had given the CRB legal resources to help draft a memorandum of understanding between the board and MNPD. He added that he had confidence in the independent investigation and wanted to see the outcome of that before calling for an investigation with the Department of Justice (DOJ), something the CRB has requested.
Monday evening, the COB met to discuss the MOU agreement, which will help determine the board’s role and powers moving forward.