Sexual Assault, Harassment Alleged Inside MNPD

The sexual assault survivors' organization Silent No Longer Tennessee alleged Wednesday that  leadership of the Metro Nashville Police Department has turned a blind eye to at least one allegation of sexual assault and other misconduct within the department.

In a virtual press conference, Silent No Longer founder Greta McClain — a former Metro police officer and a sexual assault survivor — said that she was approached in April by “a Metro Nashville Police Department employee who stated she had been sexually assaulted by Capt. Jason Reinbold.” 

According to McClain, the woman also said Rienbold harassed her and discriminated against her because of her gender, and that other members of the department retaliated against her when she complained about the treatment. 

The alleged victim, who also made a statement during the press conference but remained anonymous, said that the incidents occurred at work and during work hours. She said she initially “kept it a secret out of fear of possible repercussions” and because she had a “sense of shame” about the incident. She was aware of a “good ol' boys club” in the department, she said, and feared the male leadership of the MNPD would protect each other.

The woman says she did later report the alleged assault to Metro Human Resources. The Scene has independently obtained a complaint that was filed alleging “sexual misconduct/assault, gender disparity” and a “hostile work environment” at the MNPD. 

"After consulting with my colleagues at Silent No Longer Tennessee, we came to a unanimous decision to advocate for the woman," McClain said. "We believe and we support victims of sexual violence because we know 94-98 percent of sexual violence reports are credible reports according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. We also believe in due diligence, which is why we conducted intake interviews with everyone who agreed to talk to us. Although we found everyone we spoke with to be credible, we decided to go a step further and conduct an investigation to determine the veracity of the allegations, and to see if there were any other victims. During the investigation I spoke with two women who stated they had been retaliated against for reporting inappropriate sexual and racial comments. They also stated they were victims of sexual harassment and/or racial discrimination."

Later, McClain added that since April she has heard from 19 women who say they were sexually assaulted, sexually harassed or otherwise mistreated within the department. 

McClain said that a second alleged victim was going to speak at the press conference but decided not to after experiencing panic attacks in recent days. In a written statement — read by another Silent No Longer member on the call — that woman also alleged that she had been sexually harassed by Reinbold and other men in the department.

In April, a woman named Erin McDermott recorded Reinbold berating her and her family and cursing at them because they’d been sitting on the bike path behind his Brentwood home. McDermott also spoke on the call about her run-in with the MNPD captain.

Silent No Longer Tennessee also shared information indicating that Reinbold was arrested on domestic violence charges in 2013 but remained on the force. Additionally, they shared a list of allegations detailing a variety of misconduct by other MNPD officials, some of which McClain acknowledged that the group had not vetted. The Scene has also not been able to vet those allegations, but we have confirmed that the list was sent to the mayor’s office and members of the Metro Council. 

McClain said that the organization started emailing Mayor John Cooper and Metro Police Chief Steve Anderson in mid-April, but that they were largely ignored. 

Following the press conference, MNPD spokesperson Don Aaron told the Scene that Det. Quinn White from the Office of Professional Accountability spoke to McClain on June 11 after the OPA received the group's emails. Aaron said that White asked for more details about the allegations so that they could be investigated but did not receive any. (In her statement at the press conference, McClain also said that White had reached out to her to inquire about the allegations, but did not elaborate on their conversation.)

As for allegations of a toxic culture within the department in which women are regularly harassed, Aaron shared a list of recent disciplinary actions taken in response to sexual harassment complaints:

• In 2018, an officer received an eight-day suspension for sending inappropriate text messages and pictures to another officer.
• In July 2019, a sergeant made an inappropriate remark to a female subordinate about her body. That sergeant took an early service pension, leaving the department.
• In February 2020, an officer in training made inappropriate comments while riding with his field-training officer. That officer was suspended for one day.
• Also in February 2020, a complainant reported that in 2019 she had been sexually harassed by another MNPD employee. That employee received a four-day suspension.

“When allegations are made, if they’re substantiated, disciplinary action’s taken," Aaron said.

When asked about information indicating that Reinbold was arrested in 2013 on domestic violence charges, Aaron said: “To the best of my knowledge that is absolutely, unequivocally false.” Asked to clarify whether that meant Reinbold had not been arrested or that there had been no incident at all, Aaron reiterated: “To the best of my knowledge, Reinbold was not arrested in 2013, and to the best of my knowledge Reinbold has not been the subject of a domestic violent complaint.”

After emphasizing that the OPA had reached out to get more information about the allegations, Aaron said that the department would review the information presented today by Silent No Longer.

The mayor’s office has not responded to a request for comment about the list of various allegations shared by Silent No Longer Tennessee.

Earlier this year, the organization conducted an online survey asking current and former MNPD employees to report issues within the department. McClain said a number of names came up repeatedly, including: Capt. Jason Rienbold, Cmdr. David Corman, Deputy Chief Todd Henry, Deputy Chief Damion Huggins and Chief Steve Anderson.

“We are highly concerned the toxic culture that has been allowed to fester and thrive within the department will remain if Deputy Chiefs Henry and Huggins are allowed to remain, and someone from within the department is appointed as Chief Anderson’s replacement,” McClain said. 

She added that the group initially had no intention of addressing these allegations in such a public way, but felt forced to by “16 weeks of silence” from the chief and the mayor. 

The press conference ended abruptly after several interruptions that appeared to indicate the Zoom call had been hacked. One person repeatedly played loud music over the call, while another appeared in the chat asking to see McClain nude.