The Metro Council convened Tuesday for its second November meeting, with a series of bills related to public safety consuming the bulk of the night’s proceedings.
Fusus
The Metro Council will take yet another two weeks to continue its consideration of Fusus, a software platform that the Metro Nashville Police Department wants to use as a central repository for property owners willing to share surveillance footage with police.
Despite the deferral, a public hearing for the legislation went forward as scheduled, with a few speakers advocating for Fusus and many more speaking against the resolution. Prior to the deferral, the council’s budget committee approved the legislation in a 7-1-1 vote, while the public safety committee voted 7-3 in favor of the Fusus deployment.
“I view the criminals as the enemy, not the police,” said David Steed, a member of the public supporting the resolution. “This is a good tool.”
Opponents expressed fear that an incoming Trump administration, or Republican leadership at the state level, could exploit the surveillance network, including as part of promised mass deportations or to track women seeking reproductive care.
MNPD leadership said the tech would only be used in response to calls for service. Deputy Chief Chris Gilder said the department seeks out relevant footage from private cameras anyway, and that Fusus would just streamline the process.
“No matter what kinds of guardrails and policies that might be added, state preemption leaves me concerned about how the system can be co-opted to target immigrant and Muslim and other communities of color,” Sabina Mohyuddin, executive director of the American Muslim Advisory Council, told the council during the public hearing.
AMAC and other immigrant advocacy groups urged the council to oppose the legislation in a Monday letter, and the council’s immigrant caucus said it would cast a unified vote against the resolution.
Councilmember Sandra Sepulveda and others moved to quash the deferral, arguing that the resolution should be killed immediately rather than waiting. Dave Rosenberg, representing Mayor Freddie O’Connell, said an amendment with additional safeguards is in the works.
“There are no amount of amendments that can be added to this legislation that can make people feel comfortable,” Sepulveda said.
The push to defer consideration of the resolution once again barely passed, with a 20-18 vote. It is next scheduled to be heard at the first Metro Council meeting of December.
Police surveys
The Metro Council continued its consideration of a proposed survey software program sought by MNPD to gauge public sentiment about safety and the police. The one-year subscription would be paid for by the Nashville Police + Public Safety Alliance, a private-sector group supporting the police department.
At a series of meetings in recent weeks, Metro Human Relations Commission Executive Director Davie Tucker has questioned the proposal and asked that his agency be included in the process. On Tuesday, he asked that the resolution be deferred again.
The council granted his request after a brief debate.
Councilmember Courtney Johnston urged her colleagues instead to vote the resolution up or down rather than waiting another two weeks. She reminded them that the alliance has offered to pay for this program, not pay for a survey program conducted outside of the police department as some councilmembers had suggested.
“Having a little bit better insight into our communities is never a bad thing,” Councilmember Jordan Huffman, a supporter of the legislation, said.
Councilmember Zulfat Suara echoed some of her concerns about Fusus in opposing the survey software. She referred to earlier concerns about the software, which according to police and administration officials is mostly a tool to collect public survey responses online. Suara said the information collected could be used against residents.
SROs
The Metro Council approved a state grant application seeking more funding for school resource officers in Metro schools. The city currently has funding for SROs in middle and high schools, and the new grant application would add funding for officers at seven of the city’s elementary schools.
During the public comment period of the meeting, Vanderbilt student Tala Saad opposed the effort.
“School resource officers have often served as a barrier to student success,” Saad said, alleging “discriminatory punishment of marginalized students” by SROs.
The council did not debate the legislation on the floor Tuesday night, though it received one no vote in both of its committee hearings prior to the full meeting. The resolution passed 28-6.
The rest
One day after the Community Review Board approved a new agreement with MNPD governing the CRB’s investigations of Nashville police, the Metro Council approved two new mayoral appointments to the board, that of Heather Meshell and Walter Searcy. The council also greenlit Mayor O’Connell’s revival of the Community Correction Advisory Board, dormant since 2019, by confirming five of his appointments to that board.
Sepulveda’s legislation seeking to streamline and reform Metro’s dozens of boards and commissions passed for the third and final time with no discussion. The bill would institute attendance tracking for board members, eliminate some dormant boards and strip voting power from councilmembers serving on certain boards as required by law.