The Davidson County Grand Jury in recent months conducted its own inquiry into the whistleblower complaint brought last year against the Metro Nashville Police Department and concluded that “there is evidence of criminal and civil violations which should be meticulously investigated” by a special prosecutor, according to a forthcoming report obtained by the Banner.

The jury reviewed previous whistleblower complaints and heard testimony from current officers. The body also called retired MNPD veterans who have gone public with their experiences in recent years, including former detective Greta McClain, who founded the sexual assault survivors organization Silent No Longer Tennessee, and former Captain Dhana Jones, who was at one point the highest ranking Black woman in the department.

“We feel that these complaints coming from multiple sources and basically saying the same things are strong evidence of a serious problem within MNPD which is not being recognized or addressed,” the report reads.

Nearly a year ago, Mayor Freddie O’Connell brought in former U.S. Attorney Ed Stanton to investigate the claims made in a 61-page complaint from former MNPD Lieutenant Garet Davidson, which included allegations that police officials worked with state Republican lawmakers to gut community oversight boards and routinely thwarted or eschewed accountability measures internally. But in the absence of any updates on that investigation, the grand jury’s report says the body “felt it was...

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