The Tennessee NAACP is calling for a federal investigation into the Metro Nashville Police Department following a recent incident in which MNPD shared altered body-cam footage with Metro’s Community Oversight Board.
“We call on Mayor Cooper and the Metropolitan Nashville Council to invite the U.S. Department of Justice to Nashville for a top-to-bottom review of MNPD practices,” the statement reads.
Beyond the instance of body cam alteration, the statement references instances of gender discrimination and sexual assault and harassment within MNPD, as well as alleged surveillance of COB director Jill Fitcheard by Metro. Fitcheard filed suit against Metro in federal court last week. On Monday, Metro Legal responded with a motion to dismiss the complaint, claiming it has no basis in fact.
In June, the MNPD supplied the board with edited body-cam footage as part of a COB inquiry into a police officer, Brandon Chapman, against whom the department has since brought disciplinary action. Fitcheard learned, after the fact, that profanity had been edited out of the footage sent over for review. The instance of censorship, which wasn’t initially communicated to the board, inflames tensions around the MNPD’s willingness to fully cooperate with COB requests. Discussion of the incident has been ongoing at COB meetings since June.
The COB provides accountability for police conduct through independent investigations and inquiries. Since its creation by referendum in 2018 — which was immediately disputed by Nashville’s police union — the board has struggled against institutional barriers. This year, the board requested the equivalent of nine new positions, including a social worker, additional investigators, a public information coordinator and a specialist to monitor MNPD use of body-worn cameras and automatic license plate readers. (The latter were recently approved for use by Metro Council.) The COB received funding for four of those, including two investigators and a body-cam specialist.
When asked for comment, MNPD referred the Scene to an Aug. 17 press release that lays out a timeline of the event in question, an altercation between Chapman and a patron who allegedly refused to pay for her meal at a chicken restaurant on Music Valley Drive.
That statement reads, in part: “At no time has even one frame of video been ‘deleted’, ‘cut’, or ‘spliced’ from material requested by the COB.” It goes on to explain that two MNPD employees “muted in error potentially offensive words” and that “these two employees feel horribly about this and were found to have had no ill will or ill intent.”
At a July 27 COB meeting, outgoing chair Arnold Hayes referenced the strained relationship between MNPD, the mayor’s office, the council and the board, whose mission is to provide accountability and transparency for residents. In 2021, Hayes was elected to the executive committee of the Nashville branch of the NAACP.
“I’d like to send a message to the Mayor and Metro Council: Nashville’s leadership needs to fully embrace the Community Oversight Board with actions, not just lip service,” Hayes told colleagues in July. “Provide the resources for the Community Oversight Board to operate effectively, including making MNCO staff a high priority in next year’s budget. Take off the blinders and understand that the Community Oversight Board is not a liability, but a benefit to overall security. Stop viewing the Community Oversight board as an eyesore to the police department.”
In an email, mayor's office spokesperson TJ Ducklo tells the Scene, “The Mayor’s office is actively engaged helping MNPD and COB resolve this issue, and ensure a similar situation does not happen in the future.”
