The Metro Council held the third of three scheduled school safety meetings last week following the Covenant school shooting, discussing gun violence as a public epidemic with the Metro Public Health Department and the office of Mayor John Cooper.
The meetings were led by councilmember Jeff Syracuse to help strengthen the Nashville community and find ways to reduce gun violence.
“Today’s meeting is to focus more broadly on gun violence as a public health epidemic,” said Syracuse. “Our presentation today is a robust and revealing look at the current state of gun violence in our community and highlights the strong work already being done, but will also help us identify a strategic direction that council can enact to pull together a synergized and cohesive plan to make Nashville a safer place for all.”
Presentations were given by the Metro Public Health Department, the Metro Office of Family Safety, the Mayor’s Office of Community Safety, and the Mental Health Cooperative. Sandy Hook Promise Vice President for State Policy and Engagement Aurora Vasquez was also present.
Some highlights from the presentations included:
- Davidson County has the 16th highest rate for gun violence in a mid-size US metro area.
- Tennesseans can call 988 and be routed their local call center for suicide prevention.
- There is a strong link between gun violence and other types of violence in Nashville such as group violence and Intimate Partner Violence (IPV).
Additionally, there are two new mental health crisis programs: Partners in Care (PIC) which launched in June 2021, and has conducted 3,302 crisis assessments and Responders Engaged and Committed to Help (REACH) which launched in February. PIC is available in Central Nashville, Hermitage, Midtown Hills, North Nashville, and South Nashville and will be launching in Madison in August of 2023.
“As Nashville continues to grieve the loss of innocent children, teachers, and staff, I am reminded that this is not the only mass shooting our community has experienced,” said Syracuse. “We must thoughtfully focus our efforts on ensuring our schools are safe and supported, and examine gun violence as the public health epidemic that it is. I’m thankful to our Metro leadership and other organizations for engaging with Metro Council to guide us towards a robust platform of advocacy and action.”
The three meetings each had a different focus. The first covered school safety updates with Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS), Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) and Nashville Fire.
The second one held panel discussions with various activist groups and foundations such as the Uvalde Foundation for Kids and Mom’s Demand Action in order to start building a coalition of partners to advocate for meaningful change locally.
