NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — In 2018, more than 134,000 in Davidson County voted to create a Community Oversight Board that would have the power to investigate claims of police misconduct independently.
But with a vote of 67 to 19 on the House Floor Thursday, state lawmakers voted to disband all civilian-led COBs in the state, which would include Nashville's.
The bill was met with pushback. And even led to the arrest of a grandmother. After making repeated outbursts, Speaker Cameron Sexton asked troopers to remove Michele Flynn from the gallery. She calmly walked out, but then was told she had to leave the capitol completely.
"The speaker said to leave the chamber which is what I did peacefully. And at that point they said if you don't leave with us, you'll be put under arrest," Flynn told NewsChannel 5.
She said she felt she had to speak up after seeing the state keep pushing legislation taking power away from Nashville voters.
"You know already the Metro Council they're trying to cut, they're trying to take the power away of our boards across the city. So many of us are very disturbed," she said.
It's a vote Nashville's COB executive director Jill Fitcheard said sets a dangerous precedent and reverts the system to the way things used to be when police departments investigated their own officers.
"We would just basically review complaints and just pass them over to the police department. So we'd basically be a glorified intake system," she said.
Nashville's creation of a COB came after shootings of Black men at the hands of police.
— Metro Nashville Community Oversight (@MNCONashville) February 9, 2023
"With all of the issues that we've had in Nashville, Knoxville, and in Memphis, especially after the Tyre Nichols, who just died 90 days ago, to have such a big move to undo oversight, it's very troubling," Fitcheard said.
She urges Gov. Bill Lee to veto it.
