First look: New poll tests public's view of Nashville police
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Photo: Raymond Boyd/Getty Images
A strong majority of residents feel safe in Nashville and give high marks to police chief John Drake and the Metro Nashville Police Department overall, according to a new poll.
- Yes, but: Nashvillians also feel less safe than they did five years ago, the poll found.
Why it matters: Police funding and public safety strategies are pervasive issues in Nashville.
The big picture: The poll is one of the first major projects by a new nonprofit called the Nashville Police + Public Safety Alliance.
- The organization, which is led by former top YWCA executive Patricia Glaser Shea, hopes to build community partnerships to improve policing in Nashville. The nonprofit is primarily funded by the Nashville-based Dettwiller Foundation, which supports law enforcement among other causes.
- The Police + Public Safety Alliance has already sent two notable initiatives to the Metro Council for approval. Council signed off on a leadership development initiative, which hopes to provide training that will position 300 rank-and-file officers for top positions in the department.
- Council deferred a vote on a grant that would allow the department to continually collect community feedback through a web-based survey program.
By the numbers: According to the poll, 73% of residents said they feel very or somewhat safe in Nashville. The poll found 74% feel Nashville is just as safe or safer than similarly sized cities.
- The police department is viewed very or somewhat favorably by 69% of the poll's respondents.
- Drake enjoyed substantial community support with 49% having a very or somewhat favorable view, compared to 12% with a very or somewhat negative view.
Threat level: Despite positive views of the department, 54% said they feel less safe than five years ago.
- In the past year, 50% of those polled said they had immediate concerns for their personal property.
- Asked what could be done to improve the department, the most popular answer was more mental health funding, followed by hiring more officers and building more homeless shelters.
What she's saying: "We believe public sentiment needs to be known not assumed," Shea tells Axios. "We wanted to know what the community really thought."
The bottom line: Shea tells Axios she hopes the Nashville Police + Public Safety Alliance becomes "a repository for public safety data."
- The organization has four driving principles: reduce crime, drive community engagement with the police department, identify best practices for public safety nationally and help Nashville's police department become the best in the nation.
- She said two projects in the works for next year would address housing and child care for police officers.
State of play: The city hired an independent investigator to review claims of mismanagement and misconduct by MNPD leadership. The investigation is ongoing.
- A major policy debate in the Metro Council over whether to allow the police department to use license plate readers is also looming.
The fine print: The poll of 754 residents across eight police precincts was conducted by the firm North Star Opinion Research over cell phones, landlines and by text message.
- The margin of error is +/- 3.57%.
- Read the full poll results.