NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Two years ago, we were left with at least two questions.
Are some of the security guards we’ve seen walking around Nashville wearing police patches actual cops?
And if not, what’s being done about it?
We shared photos of these security guards with Rep. Bill Beck, who said at the time that he, too, was concerned about anyone posing as law enforcement.
“Very concerning. Very concerning. People look at them with police written across their chest and think they are a branch of Metro Police and they’re not,” Beck said.
Beck tragically passed away not long after our interview, but Rep. Yusuf Hakeem, D-Chattanooga, is now picking up where his fellow Democrat left off.
The sheer number of security guards in a busy downtown Nashville is something we now expect, but Hakeem said who you can count on in an emergency isn’t always as simple as reading someone’s uniform. At least not yet.
“This affords an opportunity for there to be clarity,” Hakeem said.
House Bill 0089 is Hakeem’s way of finishing what Beck started.
The bill requires certified law enforcement who also work private security to wear a special made patch currently being designed by the Tennessee POST Commission.
“What it does is eliminate a lot of confusion and misunderstandings as to who is in law enforcement and who is not,” Hakeem said.
Jack Byrd is the CEO of one of Nashville’s largest private security companies, and he told us two years ago that he embraced the idea of a special patch for officers working private security.
That was after he was accused of wearing a police patch without being a certified cop and allowing several of his guards to do the same.
“It’s been an ongoing thing since this business has been around and it’s not going to change until we as a community sit down and outline what those changes are,” Byrd said.
POST officials have since reported that of the 50 employees wearing police attire for Byrd’s company, only five were presently working as full-time certified law enforcement officers.
Last fall, the Davidson County Sheriff’s office suspended four of their deputies who also worked for Byrd after discovering that they too wore police patches, without having any police powers.
Byrd has denied any wrongdoing and stands by his assertion that state law leaves enough gray area for his officers to wear police patches as long as they’re commissioned members of a law enforcement agency.
Even while facing his legal challenges with the state, Byrd says he welcomes more oversight.
“I think most of us are trying to be good actors and trying to be good businessmen and women, but the reality is, it’s hard when there’s not a lot of rules,” Byrd said.
Hakeem said what he’s proposed not only provides guidance and transparency but also a solution to questions that have gone unanswered for far too long.
Hakeem will present his bill in front of lawmakers on Wednesday, during the House Public Service Subcommittee for a vote.
