Interim Metro Nashville Police Department Chief John Drake called into Wednesday's Community Oversight Board meeting, an act that may signal a remarkable shift in board-department relations that would have seemed impossible a month ago.
The COB and former Chief Steve Anderson, who retired unexpectedly ahead of schedule earlier this month, fought a bitter battle over the terms of a working agreement between the two Metro players.
Anderson also repeatedly refused invitations to attend meetings or engage open questioning from the board as Drake did Wednesday.
Drake repeatedly stated his intention to work together with the board and the Metro Nashville Community Oversight staff.
"I'm here to build a good relationship with the COB and have a good rapport. The community voted for this, they wanted it," he said. "It's incumbent on us to do what's right by our community, and I'm 100% in and want to make that work."
Drake was appointed to his role after Mayor John Cooper abruptly announced Anderson would exit the department, months ahead of the schedule set out in the mayor's lengthy transition plan.
Anderson's ouster came hours after police arrested a Black man experiencing homelessness on a charge of failing to wear a face mask downtown. The charges were later dropped.
Promises of collaboration and communication threaded through Drake's remarks to the board Wednesday. He said he "welcomed" investigations into police conduct.
He also said he wanted to build relationships with community groups, specifically naming Gideon's Army and the Driving While Black analysis of MNPD's traffic stop pattern, which Anderson once called "morally disingenuous."
Drake mentioned the possibility of creating a team and hiring a chief diversity officer within MNPD to "ensure we have a connection and good rapport" with groups like the COB and Gideon's Army.
Board did not press controversies with Drake
But although COB board members asked questions of Drake's plans, they largely failed to press him on the numerous controversies raised against the department in recent weeks.
Just minutes after heated debate over the board's involvement in the search for the next chief — and after a report from MNCO Executive Director Jill Fitcheard detailing unfair arrests, botched raids, delayed deployment of body cameras and a lingering use of force analysis — not one board member asked the interim chief directly about the issues or how he plans to address them.
Board member Matthew Sweeney asked Drake about the potential for a revised working agreement, looking for "parity" with the department's internal review unit in access to investigations.
Jamel Campbell-Gooch, a board member and leader with Gideon's Army, asked about where Drake sees improvement in the department is needed.
Drake explained a push to include more diversity in gender and race or ethnicity within the department and some potential policy changes.
"Deescalation is something that has to be huge. We have to lose that sense of urgency when no one's life is at stake, we have to be able to know that time is on our side," Drake said. "We have to look at some of the inherent limitations that we have from way back and we have to correct them. Those are the kinds of things that we're working on."
When Campbell-Gooch pushed Drake on the idea of alternatives to traditional policing, the chief pivoted to conversations about how policing can work with the homeless community in Nashville. He mentioned specialty courts, juveniles, veterans and other vulnerable groups, but did not offer specific alternatives to involving police officers in the issues.
"We also have to look at our approach to mental health calls. Sometimes with the uniform, it can escalate things," Drake said. "We also want to look at the systemic things in vulnerable populations."
Cooper's specially-formed Policing Policy Commission, set to review the department's current stances, is set to meet for the second time Thursday. The COB retains the power to investigate and make policy recommendations to MNPD, a point of contention the board has raised.
The mayor also recently formed a separate task force to gather information in the search for the next full-time chief. It remains unclear how Anderson's preemptive departure affects the timeline search, and how much impact Drake will have in his currently-temporary role.
Reach reporter Mariah Timms at mtimms@tennessean.com or 615-259-8344 and on Twitter @MariahTimms.
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