Nashville's new police chief is John Drake, the 32-year Metro Nashville Police Department veteran who has been serving as interim chief since Steve Anderson's abrupt retirement in August.
Mayor John Cooper made the announcement Monday afternoon, saying that Drake "has shown he is committed to collaboration, transparency, and the dignity of every resident.”
An MNPD lifer who was backed by the local police union and always considered the favorite to take over the job, Drake is hardly representative of the new era in Nashville policing that many activists and community organizations have been demanding. But that doesn't necessarily mean Drake won't bring any change. He is a Black man now set to lead a department under scrutiny for the lack of diversity in its upper ranks and its treatment of Black Nashvillians in the community. His appointment comes one week after his Policing Policy Commission released a final report with recommendations aimed at guiding the next police chief toward "a Nashville model of policing." Among those recommendations were taking action to address racial disparities in use-of-force incidents and increased collaboration with community organizations that offer alternatives to traditional approaches. At Monday's press conference, Drake said he would be establishing a Crisis Intervention Team consisting of police officers and mental health experts, as called for in the commission's report.
Drake began his MNPD career as a patrol officer in the West Precinct in 1988.
“Never did I think as a child growing up on North Ninth Street in East Nashville that one day I would be a police officer, much less selected in 2020 to lead the Metro Nashville Police Department. I mention my upbringing on North Ninth Street for a reason. This is my hometown. I love this city. I really care about it.”
He takes over the department after some of its most tumultuous years. The shootings of two Black men — Jocques Clemmons and Daniel Hambrick — by white officers put a spotlight on the broken relationship between the MNPD and many Nashville communities, particularly the city's largely Black neighborhoods. More recently, the department has been beset by internal sexual assault and harassment allegations that have painted a picture of a toxic culture inside the MNPD. Drake's predecessor, Anderson, had become known in Metro circles as a political operator strongly averse to change and innovation. From the outset, Drake is committing — at least in his rhetoric — to a different approach.
“Frankly, I have not always agreed with the decisions of the police department leadership over the years," he said during his press conference. "But those decisions, both right and wrong, helped to create for me a breadth of historical knowledge about policing in Nashville. I believe in change, and in fact, I embrace change. I’m here to tell you change is coming. Our changes, my changes, will be grounded in collaboration and community-based strategies.”
