NASHVILLE – Gov. Bill Lee on Thursday unveiled new recommendations to strengthen policing policies, boost law enforcement training and improve inter-agency sharing of disciplinary actions about problematic police officers amid civil and racial unrest as well as national calls for systemic police reform.
“Sixty days ago, we promised we would take definitive action for law enforcement reform, addressing policies that impact policing,” Lee told reporters on Thursday. “It’s important to remember this work … is a first step in an ongoing process of continuous improvement for law enforcement for Tennessee.”
At least one Tennessee lawmaker, Rep. Yusuf Hakeem, D-Chattanooga, said that from what he can tell, Lee’s Law Enforcement Reform Partnership guidance falls well short of what he believes is needed. Hakeem saw his own legislative efforts to require more diversity training and other training for law enforcement in areas like de-escalating tensions crash in a House subcommittee back in 2019.
“It’s that, recommendations,” said Hakeem, a former member of the state Board of Probation and Parole. “It has no force of law or executive order and what in my view is being relied upon is the goodwill of the persons who are in charge to change the way they do things.”
Lee’s partnership members came from across the state and included top officials of the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security, Tennessee Highway Patrol, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police, Tennessee Sheriffs’ Association, state legislators and community leaders.