‘Solving every homicide’: MNPD Homicide Detectives look back at 2023
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WRKN) – As 2023 draws to a close, the United States is set to finish the year with its biggest drop in homicides on record, according to ABC News.
However, where does Nashville stand?
“Of course, the goal is to solve every homicide. That’s what we aim to do. One of the important things is getting on [the] scene [quickly], which is why we respond right to the scene. One of the things that is different about a homicide is that the whole team responds; we want everyone to go because these scenes are dynamic and complex and we want to get them solved as quickly as possible,” explained Lt. Chris Dickerson with the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD).
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They are the ones who respond to homicides, suicides, and suspicious deaths throughout Davidson County. News 2 sat down with two Metro Police Homicide Detectives as they looked back at 2023.
“We started out at a high pace,” explained Lt. Brent Gibson. “Then February it continued to be high, and then March we had the Covenant shooting.”
January 2023 began with 17 homicides, a stark increase from the 10 that were investigated in the first month of 2022.
In March, the Covenant School shooting resulted in the deaths of six people, three of them children.
During the middle of the year, detectives saw another surge.
“Summer was kind of in line with last summer. We did have a really bad Fourth of July; we had three homicides in one day in a span of about five hours. That was very uncommon,” explained Gibson.
In 2023, the department investigated more than 100 homicides. Between Jan. 1 and Nov. 25, the MNPD reported 93 homicides. Among those, 35 remained open at the time News 2 interviewed detectives at the beginning of December.
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News 2 wanted to know what is contributing to the steady number of homicides in Nashville.
Police said one of the aspects contributing to deaths is the number of guns stolen from cars.
“There is just an overwhelming amount of firearms on the street right now, and a lot of times juveniles who legally shouldn’t have a gun, more than likely they may have broken into a vehicle and [took] those guns and used them,” said Dickerson.
The department revealed 75% of guns stolen in Nashville have been taken from cars. Of the 93 homicides during the first 11 months of 2023, in every case but seven, a gunshot wound was the cause of death.
“Stolen vehicles, the correlation between stolen vehicles is another concern we have,” said Gibson. “In fact, it’s more common than not we find that a gun that is used in a homicide has been used in another act of violence and/or property damage. There is a clear nexus; guns change hands; we know that. It’s not uncommon for us to find a gun on a homicide scene that was used in a drive-by shooting months earlier on the other side of Nashville.”
The MNPD said much of their work relies on the community; they use tips, calls, and reward money through Crime Stoppers to urge people to come forward.
“Usually people in the community live in the community every day. They know what happened or what may have taken place. They are living there every day, and they have to deal with that. So we try to keep a working relationship,” Dickerson explained. “Any time someone is willing to come forward I know is difficult, because they have to live with possible repercussions.”
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Gibson agreed, saying, “We would not be where we’re at without the cooperation of the community. They are the eyes and ears that point us in the right direction often.”
As they head into the new year, homicide detectives are focused on increasing the department’s clearance rate and bringing justice to families.
They also are encouraging people to apply to join the police department.
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