The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department is the primary provider of law enforcement services for Metropolitan

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

and Davidson County, Tennessee. The MNPD covers a total area of that encompasses everything from high density urban locations to rural areas.

History

The Nashville Police Department was formed in 1806. The department became the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department in 1963, when the city of Nashville and Davidson County consolidated into a single city-county government.

Blue Lites

The Blue Lites were a

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

musical band whose members worked for the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department. The band was founded in 1972 and was active from the 1970's-80's. The band performed in many public schools in Nashville. The band performed at the dedication of Riverfront Park in 1983, at a fundraiser for the

American Red Cross The American Red Cross (ARC), also known as the American National Red Cross, is a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. It is the desi ...

in 1987, and at various fundraisers for other non-profit organizations in 1988.

Composition and organization

The department personnel includes over 1450 full-time sworn members. The department responds to more than 950,000 police calls per year on average. The most recent census ranked Nashville as the 21st largest U.S. city. In 2000 the

Department of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

ranked the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department as the 36th largest U.S. police department. The department is configured in a decentralized format, providing its precinct commanders with control of their own resources to address issues and crime trends in their areas. The department is divided into eight precincts: North, South, East, West, Central, Hermitage, Madison, and Midtown Hills. A precinct is designed similarly to a medium-sized police department, with uniform patrol, undercover officers, directed patrol officers, plainclothes detectives, and other specialties. In February 2019, a new headquarters was opened at 600 Murfreesboro Pike. This replaced the old headquarters, which was located at 200 James Robertson Parkway. The precincts are supported by Administrative Services, Investigative Services, and Special Operations Division personnel, all in an effort to deter, detect, prevent, and respond to criminal trends in the precinct areas. The department's entire focus is on how to quickly identify trends and implement initiatives that address them.

Rank structure

The rank structure of the MNPD is as follows:

Operation Safer Streets

Since 2005, the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department has been involved in Operation Safer Streets. Due to the growing

gang A gang is a group or society of associates, friends or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over territory in a community and engages, either individually or collectivel ...

problem on the streets of Nashville with gangs such as

Kurdish Pride Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish languages *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern Kurdistan **Eastern Kurdistan **Northern Kurdistan **Western Kurdistan See also * Kurd (dis ...

MS-13 Mara Salvatrucha, commonly known as MS-13, is an international criminal gang that originated in Los Angeles, California, in the 1970s and 1980s. Originally, the gang was set up to protect Salvadoran immigrants from other gangs in the Los Ange ...

Bloods The Bloods are a primarily African-American street gang founded in Los Angeles, California. The gang is widely known for its rivalry with the Crips. It is identified by the red color worn by its members and by particular gang symbols, includin ...

, and

Crips The Crips is an alliance of street gangs that is based in the coastal regions of Southern California. Founded in Los Angeles, California, in 1969, mainly by Raymond Washington and Stanley Williams, the Crips were initially a single alliance ...

, the department has set up surveillance in the South Nashville neighborhoods to put pressure on the gang members. The team had originally only 14 officers who worked Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. These 14 officers stepped up Patrol in areas that have had a high concentration of gang activity, which include Madison and Antioch areas. In March 2008, the department added 23 more officers to the anti-gang team. Then-Chief of Police

Ronal W. Serpas Ronal W. Serpas (born c. 1961) is an American university professor at Loyola University New Orleans, and former law enforcement officer who served as the superintendent of the New Orleans Police Department, having been appointed to that post by ...

stated that this step up in patrol was intended to send a message that he would not tolerate gang activity in Nashville. In August 2009 Nashville appeared on Season Four Episode 23 (Hunt and Kill) of the TV Show "Gangland" featuring the street gang, "Brown Pride". This show highlights several local gang members, both arrested and out on the street, who talk about their lives in the gangs. Activists disputes that Operation Safer Streets is effective and alleges that the program has disproportionately affected black and brown neighborhoods.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Davidson County, Tennessee Municipal police departments of Tennessee County police departments of Tennessee Government of Nashville, Tennessee 1806 establishments in Tennessee