Expert: Jan Duke - 12/4/2008

Question
Hi i am a law enforcement graduate looking at becoming employed in Nashville. I am from the Duluth, MN area where its politically liberal, winters are very cold, the crime is moderate,and people are generally very nice. Can you tell me ur opinion about the similarities and differences, facts about the city, and so forth. Also what do u know about the police dept in Nashville?  Thank you so much

Answer
Hi,
While overall Nashville isn't really known for being liberal (we are after all still in the South) it typically votes democratic and it's surrounding metro areas are normally more conservative -which ends up giving the entire Mid-Tn a great blend of people.
As far as the nature of the locals, they are a real nice bunch and in all honesty I've traveled and lived all over the world and have never met as many just plain ole nice, good, and decent folks. This friendly nature in Nashville is the main reason that I personally relocated here and have stayed this long (over 20 yrs)

Winters are no where near as cold as MN. We normally only have a few inches, if that, of snowfall annually.
Here's a link to Nashville's annual weather averages
http://nashville.about.com/od/nashvilleweather/a/nashavgtemp.htm

Hmm, the police dept...
That's a mixed bag because some folks really like what Chief Serpas has done over the past few years and some have not. He seemed to have ruffled  a few feathers when he first came to Nashville and when he didn't immediately endorse the local police union although he's been here for several years now and the crime rates have gone down. I personally like where and how he has led the local police dept. and think he's a very determined and focused man that tends to hold morality to a higher standard.

A few years back his son was arrested and locals really thought that he would let it get pushed under the rug and disappear...it didn't and
actually I think his son got into more trouble than if he hadn't even been related to the Chief.

Here is a link to a recent article written about him
http://www.nashvillescene.com/2008-11-27/news/police-state-chief-serpas-plan-for...

While I can't say for sure, I do think that Serpas has changed the local dept for the better and it's, for sure, a ton better than when we had Fate Thomas and his good ole boy system.

Hope this helps,
Jan