As Mayor John Cooper seeks to ease tensions between Metro Police and the new Community Oversight Board, the discord is turning personal.
The Fraternal Order of Police, on behalf of MNPD officer Katelin Ehrhardt, has filed a complaint against COB member Brenda Ross to be considered at the Metro Board of Ethical Conduct’s Thursday afternoon meeting.
Ehrhardt, via FOP President James Smallwood, accuses Ross of interfering in a police investigation at an East Nashville Mexican restaurant on a Friday night last month. While police were investigating a possible fight, Ross “came up behind” the officer and grabbed her shoulder, according to the complaint. Ross then repeatedly asked the officer what “the call” was.
At one point, according to the complaint, Ross told the officer’s sergeant, “I am Brenda Ross with the Community Oversight Board, and I don’t like her demeanor.”
The complaint alleges that Ross “knowingly and intentionally interject[ed] herself and interfere[d] with an ongoing police investigation and medical response by asserting her purported authority as a member of the Community Oversight Board.”
Ross, out of town due to a death in the family, says the complaint is a “fabrication” and “hearsay.”
“I don’t have a bad relationship with the police,” she tells the Scene. “I wish [Smallwood] would not have done that and asked questions first.”
It’s been a busy week for the oversight board. On Monday, its executive director William Weeden abruptly resigned, citing “extreme stress.” Later in the week, Cooper announced that he was convening meetings between COB and MNPD leadership to settle disputes over information sharing and reach a memorandum of understanding by the end of the year.
“Nashvillians want and expect the COB and MNPD to work together to strengthen trust and provide accountability,” Cooper said.
After voters approved the establishment of the COB last year, the FOP waged an unsuccessful legal battle against the body.
Update (Nov. 22): The ethics board dismissed the complaint against Ross at their Thursday meeting.
