Everything you need to know about Nashville you can learn during an Uber ride downtown. Just watch out for those potholes – both those in the roadway and those in the political talk.
Things started off ordinary enough as my driver Jim (not his real name) and I talked. It was: the weather, how many MPG you get, potholes.
“They’re shutting down 440 in both directions starting Friday. It will be one lane only until October,” Jim warned. “So, you want to avoid that.”
PICK A LANE
According to TDOT (Tennessee Department of Transportation), two lanes will be open from 5 a.m. until 9 p.m., and the road-widening project is not expected to be complete until August 2020. Jim’s account had marginal factual errors, but so what? I appreciated the head’s up.
About the time we could see the tall office buildings of downtown, traffic slowed on I-40.
“It’s too early to be backing up like this,” said Jim, puzzled.
Then came the inevitable question: Why are you going to the government office block on South Second?
“You going to the old Howard School Building or the new office building? They named it after Richard Fulton. He’s a former mayor here. You going to the school board?” Jim asked.
“I’m going to the Community Oversight Board meeting,” said I, who first lived in Nashville during the Dick Fulton days.
Without missing a beat, Jim hit the button for police union talking points:
“Veteran police officers are resigning right and left to take their pensions and get out of law enforcement because of this. Nobody wants to be a police officer any more.”
“Citizen oversight of police gives law enforcement legitimacy and credibility,” I said. “I wish the police union wouldn’t fear-monger about this.”
SCARE TACTICS
The FOP (Fraternal Order of Police) wasn’t the only entity claiming the sky was falling due to citizen oversight.
On Capitol Hill in Nashville, the GOP-dominated legislature is moving along a bill which would ban citizen oversight boards (there are two others in Tennessee, one in Knoxville and one in Memphis) from having subpoena power and would put other restrictions on the boards. House Speaker Glen Casada of Franklin said citizen oversight was about a “vendetta” against police.
At the COB meeting later, board member Phyllis Hildreth said:
“I would be delighted for our entire community to see what we are learning and how we are being trained… One of the problems we’re having right now, frankly, is lack of trust. Different people thinking various nefarious things are happening with this committee.”
FOR OR AGAINST
Jim did not fully “read” my comment in support, and he pointedly asked:
“Are you for it or against it?”
“I’m for it. I think it is a great thing for citizens to have someone who will listen if police abuse them. As it is now, people just feel that complaints about police get swept under the rug.”
“Well, things do get swept under the rug,” Jim acknowledged.
“Former Police Chief Emmett Turner is on the board,” I said, seeking to assuage some of Jim’s fears.
“He is? Chief Turner’s a great guy,” Jim said. “I used to see him every morning at Logan’s.”
HERO TO ENEMY?
Then came this:
“They didn’t put that Waffle House guy on there, did they, James Shaw? I heard he applied to be on the board and then came in all cocky. He didn’t get it, did he?”
“No,” I said.
“Good!” Jim said.
Shaw, who was hailed as a hero after stopping a shooter at a Nashville Waffle House last year, was nominated by Equity Alliance to serve on the board. He missed his scheduled screening interview with a Metro Council committee, saying he found doors locked which made him late. He was allowed to reschedule, which some complained was a special accommodation that others did not receive.
But, to do a little unpacking from Jim’s observation, was being appointed to the COB such a prize honor to “get,” like being elected class president or homecoming queen? There is no pay, but board members can expect lots of time devoted to this and no shortage of headaches coming. And, since when did James Shaw Jr. become an enemy of law enforcement? Presumably, only because he was interested in serving on the COB.
PROSECUTING AN OFFICER
“Do you think they will find that officer guilty of murder?” Jim pivoted, referring to the prosecution of Patrolman Andrew Delke for shooting and killing Daniel Hambrick on July 26, 2018.
“Did you see the video?” I asked. “He shot him in the back as he was running away.”
“Yeah, you can’t shoot somebody in the back,” Jim said. “The officer said he thought the guy had a gun or was reaching around. But, they will have to find him guilty. They have to. If they don’t, the way things are now, there will be such an uproar.”
Jim asked why I was interested in the oversight board, and I said:
“I’ve been researching this subject of citizen oversight of police for six years. I’ve done everything from being a consultant for the DOJ (Department of Justice) on community policing; to helping excessive force victims navigate the complaint system; to talking with police chiefs around the country. I helped develop a Know-Your-Rights Theater workshop. I’ve met and supported family members of victims, like Mike Brown Sr. (Mike Brown Jr. Ferguson, MO) and Veda Sterling (Alton Sterling Baton Rouge, LA). I even made a documentary about it (Who Will Watch the Watchers?).
“I’ve seen a lot of how to do this right and how to do it wrong. I’m supporting COB, and I think they can get it right.”
BRIDGE-BUILDING UP AHEAD
“It’s like Republicans and Democrats going at each other,” Jim said as he took his hands off the steering wheel to bump his fists together. “There’s a big divide right now. A lot of negativity. There will be a lot of bridge-building for this oversight board to do, and it will be tough.”
As for the FOP talking point that oversight was making senior officers retire, Jim downshifted the rhetoric as we got off the Interstate:
“That’s not the real reason they’re retiring,” he said.
Jim was a good listener and took in what I had to say without arguing. I like to listen, too, especially to those who have different viewpoints -- even if much of it is based on bad information. That’s the only way I know to cut through the confrontational rhetoric and understand how people feel.
As we crossed Second Avenue and were about to end the ride, Jim had one final piece of political information:
“We’re going to have a new mayor next election.”
WATCHING THE WATCHERS
After the meeting, I talked with Hildreth about some of this negative “tone” in the community that I had picked up on my Uber drive. That is what she had referred to as lack of trust.
“Just watch what we do. Just watch how we go about this,” she said.
We will watch. This board is now watching the watchers -- and it seems everyone is watching this board.
Links to our earlier stories on Nashville’s new Community Oversight Board:
This Board’s for You!
Connecting to the Community: Seven Ways to Make It Matter
Tale of 2 Cities: Citizen Oversight of Police in Nashville and Memphis
Who Will Watch the Watchers? Remains an Ongoing Question for Citizen Oversight of Police in Nashville
Gary Moore operates Moore Media Strategies, founded Citizens Media Resource, makes films about social justice issues and from time to time writes in Daily Kos as FreeSpeechZone.