Nashville Community Oversight Board
The Community Oversight Board of Nashville, Tennessee is an independent body to review cases of alleged Metropolitan Nashville police misconduct. It appeared as Amendment 1 on the November 6, 2018 ballot in Davidson County and was approved by voters by a margin of 134,371 votes in support to 94,129 votes against.
Members
The board has 11 members: 7 nominated by community organizations or private petitions of at least 50 Davidson County residents, 2 by City Council Representatives, and 2 by the Mayor. At least 4 must come from economically distressed areas.On January 22, 2019, the Metro Council appointed the first members of the COB. Of the Board's 11 initial members:
- 7 were Black
- 1 was Latino
- at least 2 identified as LGBT
- 6 were women, 7 were men
- 4 Black women
- 3 Black men
- 3 white men
- Chair: Alisha Haddock
- First Vice Chair: Joe Brown
- Second Vice Chair: Walter Holloway
- Secretary: Andrew Goddard
| Name | Background | Nominated by | Notes | - |
| Alisha Haddock | Senior Vice President of Community and Economic Development at the Housing Fund. Nonprofit professional with decades of experience serving under-resourced and under-developed communities in Nashville. | council member | Chairperson | |
| Michael Milliner | 27 years of combined governmental experience as a public administrator and union leader for governments and special districts. | community | - | |
| Joe B. Brown | retired judge with five decades of judicial experience. | community | First Vice-Chair | - |
| Andrew J. Goddard | former head of the Environmental Practice Group of Bass, Berry & Sims and First Vice President of the Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee. | Mayor | Secretary | - |
| Phyllis Hildreth | currently serves as Vice President for Institutional Advancement and Strategic Partnerships at American Baptist College, former Chief Counsel in the Office of the Public Defender for the State of Maryland. | Mayor | - | |
| Walter Holloway | retired Metro police officer with over three decades of experience. | council member | Second Vice-Chair | |
| Makayla McCree | Organizing Director at Organize Tennessee, formerly worked in the office of US Congressman Jim Cooper. | community | - | |
| Maxine Spencer | organizer with Workers’ Dignity | community | - | |
| Demerrius LaShawn Whitsell | writer, producer, director, works with Southern Word | community | - | |
| Mark Wynn | 20+ years of experience as MNPD officer, works with the US Department of Justice | community | - | |
| Vacant | community | To be filled by 11/1/22 | - |
Staff
The COB is budgeted a staff of 15 employees to support the work and mission of the Board. The staff are colloquially referred to as Metro Nashville Community Oversight. In FY22-23, MNCO was staffed at the following levels:- Executive Director
- Assistant Director
- Administrative Services Manager
- Legal Advisor
- Investigators
- Research Analysts
- Data and Evidence Technician
- Community Liaison
- Social Worker
- Administrative Assistant
History
The Amendment was proposed based on a petition by Community Oversight Now. The Fraternal Order of Police sued, claiming that the number of signatures on the petition was too low. However, the Davidson County Election Commission voted on August 15, 2018, to add it to the November 2018 ballot.The Metro Council received more than 150 nominations for membership, and the Council's January 22, 2019, meeting to appoint members lasted 5 hours.