Board staff and a CRB member briefed the Nashville Community Review Board on MNPD recruitment, training demographics and outreach efforts.

The briefing summarized academy demographics for recent classes and noted attrition causes. Board staff said MNPD reported a median age of 30 for lateral trainees and 25 for basic recruits, with the most recent lateral class showing 3 Black and 8 white trainees (8 males, 3 females) and the basics class showing 4 Black, 24 white, 2 Hispanic and 2 other trainees (26 males, 6 females). The board was told many trainees voluntarily resigned during training or failed exams, firearms qualification or driving evaluations.

Training and recruitment initiatives described included a diversity-focused curriculum (Spanish for law enforcement, community-oriented policing, fair and impartial policing, autism and developmental disabilities training) and a one-day bus tour that exposes recruits to diverse Nashville neighborhoods. Staff said MNPD’s recruitment unit participated in roughly 171 recruitment events during the FY24–25 period.

Outreach: the CRB’s current “Your Voice, Our Mission” billboard campaign ran on Lamar-supplied boards across the city. Staff said the board purchased a package of digital and static billboard placements for roughly $24,000 covering 4–5 locations for about 90 days; the campaign increased visibility and, according to staff, produced an uptick in calls and web submissions. The board discussed procurement steps and possible creative community-engagement tie-ins, including giveaways or community events for people who photograph a billboard.

Action and follow-up: staff will circulate the full recruitment dataset to members and schedule a dedicated discussion on recruitment and retention. The board also requested impressions and complaint counts tied to the billboard outreach for the next meeting.

Ending: members thanked staff and asked the executive director to provide the full academy demographic tables and planned recruitment events for review ahead of a committee discussion.