Amid Scrutiny, MNPD Teases Copumentary on Chief John Drake

Did you know the Metro Nashville Police Department makes Reels? The MNPD makes Reels, on Instagram, and on Monday the department released one teasing what appears to be an upcoming documentary of sorts on Metro Police Chief John Drake.

The clip shows Drake in what looks to be the auditorium at East Nashville Magnet High School (located on the former campus of Drake's alma mater, East Nashville High). A caption reads: "With Chief John Drake soon to complete his first 6 months on the job, an opportunity is coming soon to learn more about the man behind the badge." Then comes the chief, in voice over.

"And I like for people to see, as police officers, all the good that we do and that we're good people too," Drake says as piano music plays. "And some of these that hate the police don't have near the story I could tell about how I grew up and things that happened in my life, and I can get by and know that, you know, police officers are good people." 

Drake has spoken about his upbringing in Nashville before, and the Scene interviewed him at length in February. Although seemingly tied to him reaching the six-month mark of his tenure as chief, the copumentary — apparently titled A Guardian's Story — comes as the MNPD faces scrutiny about a series of recent police shootings and how its public-relations machine operates. 

We've asked MNPD for more info about the project, as well as how much it cost to produce and how it was paid for. We'll update here if and when we get any answers. (Update: MNPD spokesperson Don Aaron emails to say the full video will be about five to six minutes long and should be released later this week. "It is being done in-house," he says.)

Reactions to the teaser, and the full whatever-it-is, will inevitably vary. Is this simply a nice story about our new chief's background and why it made him the police officer he is today? Or is it a bit of copaganda meant to undermine substantive criticism and questioning of the department and the conduct of its officers? You can already find some of both in the comments below the MNPD's Instagram post. You can watch it here: