Violent crime has risen every year that Nashville Police Chief John Drake has been at the helm. That includes 2020, 2021 along with violent crime rising 4.7% in 2022. If Drake was the CEO of a business and crime was on the profit/loss chart, he would have been fired long ago but this is American Policing and we can’t recall the last time a police chief was fired for crime going up.
In fact, crime doesn’t seem to matter these days and we suspect that Drake knows that. Toe the line, push diversity, fire some cops and tell everyone that all you want are guardians and that seems to be the ticket to a successful career in police leadership.
But Drake is an overachiever.
In 2020, he vowed to enforce the “mask mandate” as his “top priority” because he said that “it is the only way to save lives.” Who needs to consider crime when you can go after soccer moms not wearing a mask that everyone with the ability to read a PubMed Journal knew wouldn’t work a decade ago.
Higher crime should be no surprise in the Music City. Upon being hired, Drake told the Associated Press that he “wanted to get away from the warrior mentality, to the guardian…We are here to help you. We want to have movie night with you. We want to have ice cream day. We want to tutor you and get to know your family.”
Revolver News reported that Drake became the police chief in 2020 after the George Floyd revolution catapulted him into power. Steven Anderson, the previous white police chief, retired after facing pressure over the department’s apparent lack of diversity and alleged harshness toward black criminals. Several city council members demanded his resignation after Nashville police issued arrest warrants for activists accused of organizing local BLM riots.
Drake didn’t waste anytime with ignoring criminals and ensuring that he’s first in line to the next big city police chief job.. He said that the direction he was going was more diversity and that he supported Black Lives Matter. He also threw out meritocracy when he said that he wanted to “promote, every opportunity I can, any minority or woman within the police department.”
It wasn’t easy for Drake to achieve his diversity goals. Three white deputy chiefs are now gone and were recently replaced with two blacks and a female. The hiring standards were lowered including the reversal of banning religious headwear, and the elimination of push ups and sit ups in the entry exam. These changes, according to Axios, resulted in more women and minorities moving through the hiring process.
Frankly, Drake has been successful. He has done exactly what he said he was going to do and he did it in a quick fashion. Sure, veteran police leaders are no longer there, hiring standards were lowered, and violent crime is up but does that really matter?
Clearly it doesn’t.
Crime has risen every year he has been office and it appears this will be his biggest year yet as South Nashville, one of the more diverse areas in the city is currently experiencing record rates of crime including violent crime up 12%, Rape up 15%, auto theft up 103%, and overall part 1 crime up 29%.
Congratulations Chief.
We are looking forward to the movie nights and ice cream events but may we suggest that they occur indoors with security.
