Thread by @scoopnash

#MNPDWest meeting is discussing the homeless encampment. A room of almost exclusively white middle-aged residents are upset, asking why laws are not enforced...

#MNPD is explaining that folks don't necessarily commit crimes when police are walking around and that residents should have some compassion. Residents are visibly not happy with the answers they're receiving.

#MNPDWest: "not everybody over there is a criminal.
#Citizens: They are breaking the law, it's a park. They're criminals.

Citizens are now citing a list of 'TCA' laws to the cops, including polluting. It's a comical situation, with some visible eye-rolls from the council and authorities. #MNPDWest

#MNPD "I agree they're breaking some laws, but if we issue metro citations.. I have to put this delicately... it's about as good as a parking ticket.. no one cares about them, they're not going to lock anyone up for them"

#MNPDWest: "The only people that pay @MetroNashville citations are the middle-class". /@MNPDNashville

#MNPDWest: A citizen says "I was being a good citizen, I made an 862-8600 call because a man had a Lowe's lumber cart. It should have been theft and endangerment crimes" but complains that @MNPDNashville didn't come to enforce anything.
#MNPD explains lowes didn't prosecute.

#MNPDWest: @MNPDNashville says "our administration (@JohnCooper4Nash) doesn't want to move them out" and that isn't his call to make.

CMDR also says "these folks are drinking and using drugs so they don't want to go to the mission" - strong statement from #MNPD, upset some.

a man just asked "What happens if I hit one of them(a homeless person) with a car - the room erupts in laughter and @MNPDNashville officers grin and laugh.

#Citizen: "these people are living in trash, broke glass, rats, burning stuff... polluting the river... they use 5-gallon buckets for toilets, dumping into the river" #MNPDWest

#MNPD Commander corrects citizen "that's not his campsite, that's his home"
citizens visibly eye roll this time. #MNPDWest

429 people in Nashville have been housed in Nashville as a result of federal COVID funds, per #MNPDWest meeting happening now.

#MNPDWest: Open Table Director asks the group "Where do you want us to put them".. the room is silent.
a man says "they live in squalor, get them a dumpster"

Citizen says: "what if we put them in an open area somewhere right now?" Let's put them in front of the @NashParthenon in Centennial Park?

Groups says, they're not puppies, you can just move humans.. man in blue want to move them to the Parthenon 100%

#MNPDWest tries to calm room, remind room "these are people" don't say "they/them"... they're people. We're not going to arrest our way out of homelessness..

...a citizen reminds the group that they are talking about other humans while they're not here. The room says "this is a crime meeting, that's why they're not here/welcome" a few gasps. #MNPDWest

#MNPDWest: a citizen is outraged that things aren't happening sooner from the Mayor, @johnlasiter is present on behalf of @JohnCooper4Nash, and appears visibly concerned on how some of these citizens are upset and demand to 'clean it up' and demanding a timeline, nothing else.

These citizens have turned the #MNPDWest meeting into a sideshow, and it's a sad moment for all of Nashville right now. There is no humanity in this room, just middle-class middle-aged white folks, upset about humans that don't have as much as them. #DoBetterNashville