The
Metropolitan Nashville Police Department is the primary provider of law enforcement services for Metropolitan
NashvilleNashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is the second most populous city in the state after Memphis. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state...
and
Davidson CountyDavidson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of 2000, the population was 569,891. The 2007 Census Estimate placed the population at 619,626...
, Tennessee. The MNPD covers a total area of that encompasses everything from high density urban locations to rural areas.
The department comprises over 1900 personnel, including over 1300 full-time sworn members. The department responds to more than 750,000 police calls per year on average.
The
Metropolitan Nashville Police Department is the primary provider of law enforcement services for Metropolitan
NashvilleNashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is the second most populous city in the state after Memphis. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state...
and
Davidson CountyDavidson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of 2000, the population was 569,891. The 2007 Census Estimate placed the population at 619,626...
, Tennessee. The MNPD covers a total area of that encompasses everything from high density urban locations to rural areas.
Composition and organization
The department comprises over 1900 personnel, including over 1300 full-time sworn members. The department responds to more than 750,000 police calls per year on average. The most recent census ranked Nashville as the 21st largest U.S. city. In 2000 the
Department of JusticeThe United States Department of Justice is a Cabinet department in the United States government designed to enforce the law and defend the interests of the United States according to the law and to ensure fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans...
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 six precincts: North, South, East, West, Central, and Hermitage. A
precinctA precinct is a space enclosed by the walls or other boundaries of a particular place or building, or by an arbitrary and imaginary line drawn around it. The term has several different uses...
is designed similarly to a medium-sized police department, with uniform patrol, undercover officers, directed patrol officers, plainclothes detectives, and other specialties.
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.
S.W.A.T. Team
In 1976 the Metropolitan Nashville Government formed a highly flexible mobile strike force to concentrate on police problems that might otherwise go unchecked in Nashville due to the limitations imposed on field personnel in supplying day-to-day services. This early concept became the foundation for the department’s Metro Unique Situation Team, known then as M.U.S.T.
This team was placed under the direct control of the Metro Police Department’s Training Academy Director and its members were appointed from the training academy’s roll. In 1979 the team was renamed the Special Weapons and Tactics Team (S.W.A.T.) and in 1983, its membership was opened to personnel throughout the department.
SWAT members are specialists selected, trained, and equipped to resolve high-risk tactical problems. SWAT personnel assist in the department’s response to unusual and high-risk tactical situations. The members have primary assignments from virtually all sections within the department and come together for training and operations. Their constant specialty training and flexibility are the key elements in keeping abreast of a rapidly changing society and the complex problems it generates. The team conducts over 125 SWAT-related missions per year.
The team responds to several categories of tactical situations including:
- Barricaded person situations
- Sniper/counter-sniper situations
- Hostage situations
- High-risk warrant service operations
- Protecting high value persons and property
- Search and rescue operations
- High-risk tactical surveillance and/or narcotics enforcement operations
- Tactical waterborne operations
- High angle, elevated, and aviation operations
- Covert/undercover tactical operations
- Hazardous material, clandestine lab and weapons of mass destruction situations
- Special circumstances such as crowd control and rural searches
In 2004, the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department activated a portion of its SWAT team members to a full-time status. The unit is a plainclothes versatile SWAT unit with its primary focus as combating high-risk suspects who have outstanding warrants. The Special Response Tactical Unit is staffed by active SWAT Team members. Based on the unit's primary tasks of tracking down violent repeat offenders, service of high-risk search/arrest warrants, and assistance with preplanned high-risk operations, the unit is flexible in its shifts and days off.
Operation Safer Streets
The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department is currently involved in Operation Safer Streets.
Due to the growing
gangA gang is a group of people who, through the organization, formation, and establishment of an assemblage, share a common identity. In current usage it typically denotes a criminal organization or else a criminal affiliation. In early usage, the word gang referred to a group of workmen...
problem on the streets of Nashville with gangs such as Kurdish Pride,
MS-13,
BloodsThe Bloods are a street gang founded in Los Angeles, California. The gang is widely known for its rivalry with the Crips. They are identified by the red color worn by their members and by particular gang symbols, including distinctive hand signs...
, and
CripsThe Crips are a primarily, but not exclusively, African American gang. They were founded in Los Angeles, California in 1971 mainly by Raymond Washington and Stanley Williams...
. 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. Chief
Ronal Serpas hopes that this step up in patrol will send a message that he will not tolerate gang activity in Nashville.
See also
External links