NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – On Wednesday night, city and county stakeholders revealed what needs to be done to better protect victims of domestic violence. Members of the Nashville Metropolitan Council called a special meeting to hear what changes the agencies believe need to be made as soon as possible.

This all comes after the death of Lauren Johansen, a young woman from Mississippi, exposed gaps in Nashville’s justice system. Metro Council does not oversee the court system, but they said they wanted to try to better understand what went wrong.

Seven different city and county branches took to the podium in the city council chamber, including the Metro Nashville Police Department, Davidson County Sheriff’s Office, Metro Nashville and Davidson County General Sessions Court, and Metro Nashville State Trial Court and Davidson County.

Metropolitan Nashville Police Department

MNPD asked council members for six or seven part-time detectives to help investigate domestic violence cases.

“If our department received personnel who could fully investigate these cases, it would be a great help in expanding our high-risk panel,” said Capt. Blake Giles of the Family Intervention Program.

He said they want to strengthen the cases to better help the prosecution. Captain Giles added that his unit has had the same number of staff since 2015 and that potential part-time employees could be retired investigators.

Nashville District Attorney’s Office

District Attorney General Glenn Funk said 50 percent of the crimes his office sees are related to domestic violence, adding that it should be categorized as a health crisis.

DA Funk said he wanted domestic violence advocates to take calls with the MNPD, like mental health advocates who currently make mental health calls.

Christina Johnson, deputy prosecutor for the Domestic Violence Unit, added that they want to see legislative changes. He said many times roommates or people who live together but are not in a relationship are arrested on a domestic violence charge and placed on hold for 12 hours. He said this is mandatory under the current statute and should not be, clogging up the dockets.

Lastly, they want the seizure of firearms to be enforced and for there to be a safe place to store them.

“That’s a real hole, if we don’t have it in the law, then there’s no way to enforce it,” Gen. Funk said.

“It’s not enough for a violent defender to just honor the system and say ‘No, I don’t have a gun in the house,’ well, we have to do more there,” said Vice Mayor Angie Henderson.

General Sessions

Judge Jim Todd said magistrates recently had access to NCIC, or a system that allows them to view a defendant’s records in other counties or states. He said they are working to put bail conditions for each crime and put them in one system, so bail conditions can be modified and updated.

Judge Todd also said Criminal Court Clerk Howard Gentry is working with the MNPD to include them in their ARMS system. This allows officers to see every part of a defendant’s bail conditions in the field.

They are also asking for more staff.

“What we are asking the Metro Council to fund as soon as possible is six administrative assistants for the magistrates,” Judge Todd added.

He said these assistants would run the NCIC, meet with defendants to discuss bail conditions and work on protective orders.

The State Trial Court also considered moving some protective order cases from the Birch Building to Nashville City Hall circuit court. However, representatives said they have not had conversations yet and still need the justices to vote.

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