FEATURE
The Road to Decriminalizing Homelessness in Nashville
Nashville’s criminal justice system turns inward for alternatives to traditional policing BY HANNAH HERNER Joseph Bryant, a Black man experiencing homelessness, was the first person in Nashville arrested for refusing to wear a mask. Hours after his arrest in August 2020, Mayor John Cooper announced that it would be then-police chief Steve Anderson’s last day on the job, ahead of his scheduled retirement in October. Two days later, the second charge for “County Board of Health Violation” went to a man experiencing homelessness, too. There was only one person charged with “escape from quarantine” in 2020, a man who jumped the fence at the Nashville Fairgrounds overflow shelter. An investigation by The Contributor confirmed that there are charges that disproportionately affect our neighbors on the streets, even during a pandemic, when charges were down overall. Protests against police brutality in 2020 challenged cities around the country to rethink the purpose of the police force. The city, police, courts, Sheriff’s office and state organizations have switched up their approaches in the last two years. How will these changes serve people experiencing homelessness?
does not believe that charges such as public intoxication, obstruction of passageway, public indecency and criminal trespassing necessarily affect people experiencing homelessness disproportionately. “It’s not just the displaced citizens, but we actually have people that come here and visit that can be charged with trespassing,” he told The Contributor. The Contributor looked at data on the four charges mentioned to Chief Drake to note how many people experiencing homelessness were charged compared to how many listed an out-of-state address. Those who listed an area shelter as their address were counted as homeless for this story. In 2020, 56 percent of all charges for obstructing a passageway went to people experiencing homelessness. None went to tourists. Eleven homeless people were charged with public indecency, while no out-ofstaters were charged. The number of people expereincing homelessness charged with public intoxication nearly doubled that of visitors — 390 to 198. Forty percent of criminal trespassing charges went to people experiencing homelessness. That’s 391 charges, compared to 35 charges from out-of-state visitors. The total number of arrests for criminal trespassing is down significantly from last year. From January to October 2019, there were 724 arrests for trespassing from people experiencing homelessness. In the
*** In late November, interim police Chief John Drake, a Nashville native who has been with the department for 32 years, officially became Nashville’s second Black chief of police. Drake has stated that he
In 2020
56% 11 of all charges for obstructing a passageway went to people experiencing homelessness.
NONE went to tourists.
homeless people were charged with public indecency, while
NO
out-of-staters were charged.
same time span of 2020, there were 364 arrests on this charge. MNPD says that’s due to COVID-19, during which officers have been encouraged to issue citations rather than arrests. Trespassing charges were also brought against Black people experiencing homelessness more than white people who are homeless: 213 to 174. That’s 55 percent of criminal trespassing charges brought against those who are Black and homeless compared to 45 percent of the homeless population being black, and 28 percent of Nashville’s general population being Black. Since he became chief, Drake has assigned a quality of life team, whose goal is to make friends with those experiencing homelessness and work with area homeless service providers such as the Salvation Army and Metro Homeless Impact Division. “There’s a lot of factors to people who are displaced,” Drake says. “There’s mental health, there’s drug addiction and there’s other issues. I feel the best approach is to connect those to services where we can. There still are situations where we have to make an arrest if a crime has been committed.” New alternatives introduced during the pandemic The Davidson County Sheriff’s Office introduced an alternative to jail in 2020 called the Behavioral Care Center and Nashville also launched the Homeless
The number of people expereincing homelessness charged with public intoxication nearly doubled that of visitors:
390 198 TO
Court this year, which is a separate docket just for those experiencing homelessness. Sheriff Daron Hall says the jail is 80 percent men and 20 percent women (they do not have a category for those who are nonbinary), and about 30 percent are diagnosed mentally ill. Many are there awaiting court dates after failing to appear in court or pay fines owed, things that Hall admits are especially challenging for those experiencing homelessness and/or a mental illness. “The number one reason a mentally ill person was coming into the jail system in Nashville is because they failed to do something we shouldn’t have asked them to do anyway,” Hall says. From November through January, a total of 3,672 people were sent to jail in Davidson County. The BCC served 50 total since it started accepting patients during its pilot phase in late October. Karla West, spokesperson for the sheriff’s office says this is because COVID-19 lowered the number of people being brought to jail total, therefore affecting the number eligible for the Behavioral Care Center. The Behavioral Care Center staff come from the sheriff’s office, but did not previously serve as police officers. They spent two weeks training in behavioral health, mental health, trauma-based care, and de-escalation. They don’t use the term “inmate” or “officer,” and will be using scrubs instead of traditional uniforms. “It’s not a uniform with a badge on it and an in-charge persona. This is more of a sup-
40% of criminal trespassing charges went to people experiencing homelessness.
391
That’s charges, compared
35
to charges from out-of-state visitors.
PAGE 8 | February 17-March 3, 2021 | The Contributor | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE
Trespassing charges were also brought against Black people experiencing homelessness more than white people who are homeless:
213 174 TO
