NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Currently, a variety of crimes — year-to-date — are trending downward in Nashville including homicides, assaults, burglaries and robberies.

Even with this improvement, Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell is moving forward to hire a director of crime prevention and violence reduction.

“This goes back to the mayor's initial campaign of 15 fixes on day 1," the Mayor's Senior Director for Civic and Community Engagement, Brittany Irby, said. "He really stressed the importance of establishing a community safety plan, and this has always been in the works to make sure we are taking a proactive approach."

Applications are now open through September 18. The job pays between $120,000 and $140,000 per year.

“Someone who definitely comes with a depth of knowledge in terms of community engagement, but also as I've mentioned, can take that perspective of the public health land, but really comes with data and analytics to really deploy some best practices here in Nashville,” Irby said.

Although Metro crime numbers do show improvement, Nashville native Pastor Darryl Howard said he doesn't think those numbers paint the whole picture.

“I live in the community, I stay in the community, and I hear violence every day,” Howard, who founded Personal Interest in Changing Character, said.  “Now, they may not be things that people see, but violence is happening every day.”

He believes the city needs to hire someone who can see and address the root causes of violence.

“The economic issues, the lack of opportunities, the lack of fathers in the homes, we don't look at the lack of educational opportunities that people in certain communities have; we don't look at the neighborhood trauma, the violence they see every day that's being normalized,” Howard said.

Although the posting says a master's degree is preferred, Howard doesn't think academics should be make-or-break criteria.

“There's some people out here who have been doing this for 20-25 years, and they could have a PhD in life,” he said.

You can find more information about the position here.

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/nashville/nashville-mayor-searching-for-crime-prevention-director/