NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — For years, much of South Nashville has been left to deal with rising safety concerns and long response times, but help is on the way.

Back in 2021, city leaders approved a new precinct for southeast Nashville.

After breaking ground in 2023, construction is now in its final phase, and the doors are expected to open by this fall.

"Our community has been marking the days down on the calendar until it opens," District 32 Council Member Joy Styles said. "We are going from 70 square miles, that is the south precinct right now, to only 35 for the southeast precinct."

Local leaders and law enforcement say the plan is clear: prioritize safety and rebuild trust.

"We will have officers," Styles said. "You will see them on Bell Road; you will see them on Murfreesboro Road; they will be making their presence known."

"We want to make sure that we do our very best to keep it safe, build those relationships, and make sure that we get the resources to where they need to be a lot faster than what we do right now," the new commander of Southeast Precinct, Carlos Lara, expressed.

Residents in the area told News 2 that safety concerns and long response times have only been mounting.

"The current South and Hermitage precincts have to cover so much area and have to cover such a large number of people that they stay very busy that it is a struggle to keep up," Antioch resident Anthony Coon said.

"We heard gunshots practically every weekend," Antioch resident Jason Weakley said.

They said that come the fall, they would like to see more patrols, faster response times, and an emphasis on speed enforcement.

"Just overall general presence and an increased sense of safety," Coon said.

"More patrols to keep the crazy people in line," Weakley said.

Styles explained how this precinct is as much about connections as it is about crime prevention. The building will include a community room, offering residents a direct line to their local officers.

"Come and meet with MNPD or rent it out and just say, 'Hey, we are going to be having our community meeting here at the precinct,' so you have an opportunity to really engage with the officers of the southeast precinct," Styles explained.

The new commander of Southeast Precinct, Carlos Lara, said his top goal is restoring community safety.

"We want to make sure that our response times are faster; we also want to make sure that we really communicate and build better and closer relationships with the communities. It's a very diverse area of the city."

In a community meeting, Lara said that in the first month of the precinct's opening, the goal is to set the tone.

"If you act like a fool, you are going to get stopped, and we are going to address that because we have to set a tone and say, 'We are not going to continue to allow this,'" Lara said.

"We are going to make Antioch the safest part of the city period," Lara concluded.

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/nashville/new-mnpd-precinct-could-bring-relief-to-crime-concerns-in-southeast-nashville/