Nashville Mayor Chides Police Chief, DA

NASHVILLE, TN — Metro Nashville Mayor Megan Barry chastised the chief of police and the district attorney's office for an ongoing "war of words" in the wake of dueling press conferences and a letter-writing battle following the announcement that Officer Joshua Lippert would not be charged in the shooting death of Jocques Clemmons.

Despite his decision not to prosecute Lippert, District Attorney General Glenn Funk sharply criticized Metro Police for some of the wording and behavior during the investigation, which prompted a rebuttal and rebuke from MNPD Chief Steve Anderson in a letter to Deputy DA Amy Hunter in which he said she may have "deliberately misstated the facts" and that some of what she said in the press conference "defies any common sense evaluation."

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Funk responded by writing a letter to Barry — he pointedly noted that she is the chief's boss, whereas he is answerable to voters — saying he stood by Hunter.

The crux of the dispute is that Hunter repeatedly noted that MNPD's investigation referred to Clemmons as a "suspect" and Lippert as a "victim," where as the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation uses "officer" and "other" in its officer-involved shooting investigations. She also said MNPD described the investigation as "completed" within five hours of the shooting itself. MNPD officials have particularly taken issue with that characterization, saying that the use of the word "completed" referred to the act itself — in this case, "justifiable homicide" on Lippert's part. In his letter — letters have become a favorite tool of Anderson, a 42-year MNPD vet — Anderson said Hunter should have known that an investigation is never truly "complete."

In any event, it's clear the mayor had enough. She called in Anderson and Funk for a 30 minute mediation before issuing a statement at a press conference Friday.

"From time to time, there will be disagreements between them, and I think that's true of many components of government, but we need to make sure that we're working together to make sure our citizens are safe," she said. "I've asked that we stop the war of words that the district attorney and MNPD have engaged in. They need to communicate more and they need to cooperate more."

As for the latest tête-à-tête, Barry said the DA should have discussed his findings and decision with MNPD to insure there were no misunderstandings before holding a press conference, but she also said Chief Anderson's letter was "inappropriate" and apologized to Hunter.