Crime

Mayor, PD Chief, Feds Partners Announce Largest-Ever Fight Against Gun Crime

THE TENNESSEE TRIBUNE — Mayor David Briley and Chief Steve Anderson announced last week Project Safe Nashville.

Published

8 years ago

February 10, 2019

By The Tennessee Tribune

NASHVILLE, TN — Mayor David Briley and Chief Steve Anderson, in collaboration with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and other federal law enforcement partners, announced last week Project Safe Nashville, the city’s largest-ever effort to fight gun crime.

A core component of Project Safe Nashville is the creation of a seven-member MNPD Crime Gun Unit, which is working to identify the persons pulling the triggers in related gun crimes wherever they occur. The unit is using information from scientists at the MNPD crime lab, who are using the National Integrated Ballistics Information Network (NIBIN) to analyze and track shell casings from crime guns and connect those weapons to similar crimes in Nashville and Middle Tennessee. Based on a 2018 study by Rutgers University, when two shooting events are linked by ballistics evidence through NIBIN, 50% of the time a third shooting event will happen within 90 days.

“Addressing violent crime is a major priority for my administration. Project Safe Nashville is an unparalleled interagency effort to save lives and make our city safer. It is a vital next step in preventing future gun crimes and in successfully prosecuting those who commit violent crimes in our city,” said Mayor Briley. “It will also help us get weapons out of the hands of our kids, allowing us to intervene in their lives before it’s too late. I was very pleased to see the homicide rate for 2018 down by 22 percent, and I know Project Safe Nashville will give MNPD even more tools to support the great work they are already doing.”

The seven members of the Crime Gun Unit were, until recently, gang detectives with considerable experience in the investigation of gun crime.

“The core, full-time mission of the group is to use state-of-the-art ballistic science and intelligence gathering to identify violent criminals who pose the most danger to Nashville citizens, and then work closely with prosecutors at the federal and local levels to ensure that these felons are held accountable for their actions,” Chief Anderson said.

The MNPD’s Crime Gun Unit will work closely with the U.S. Attorney’s office and the District Attorney’s office to support investigations and court proceedings that ensue from arrests made in gun crime cases. Two additional prosecutors have been added to the U.S. Attorney’s office to help handle these types of violent crime cases.

“I became the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee with no purpose in mind other than to try to make a difference and improve the quality of life for all of our citizens,” said U.S. Attorney Don Cochran. “The level of gun violence is not acceptable to me or to those who stand here with me today. Project Safe Nashville marshals unprecedented resources from the Department of Justice and the law enforcement agencies represented here today. Our focus is to use scientific methods and innovative investigative techniques as tools to identify crime guns and those who use them and bring them to justice swiftly. Together, we intend to make Nashville and Middle Tennessee an even safer place for all of our citizens and visitors.”

“The Nashville-Davidson County District Attorney’s office recognizes the proliferation of illegal weapons and the effects those weapons have in our community. It’s why we recently adopted a new policy stating that all gun-related cases will be handled at the Criminal Court level and not adjudicated in General Sessions Court,” said Glenn R. Funk, Nashville-Davidson County District Attorney. “We applaud this new Crime Gun Unit, as together we use professional manpower and advanced technology to find these weapons and the criminals who use them, get them off the streets, and make our community safer.”

Project Safe Nashville is also being supported by 10 ATF agents, two of whom will work directly with the Crime Gun Unit. Eight others are divided among the North, South, Hermitage and East Precincts, parts of which have relatively high rates of incidents of gun-related crime. This collaboration will help MNPD and ATF identify and prosecute persons illegally trafficking firearms in the Nashville area.

ATF Special Agent in Charge Marcus Watson remarked, “ATF’s Crime Gun Intelligence focuses on reducing violent crime and disrupting the shooting cycle that negatively impact our neighborhoods. The priority of protecting the public is evident with the partnerships with the City of Nashville and MNPD.”

The FBI, including MNPD members assigned to the FBI’s Violent Crimes Task Force, will support the new unit to continue to look closely at local robbery cases involving firearms that impact interstate commerce – robberies of convenience stores and drug stores, for example – so that those suspects, once identified, can be federally prosecuted whenever possible. The TBI will also support the unit when its work relates to crime within the state.

“The FBI is dedicated to disrupting and dismantling violent crimes in our communities,” said M.A. Myers, Special Agent in Charge of the Memphis Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. “Through Project Safe Nashville, the FBI’s Violent Crimes Task Force will continue to work with our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners to ensure the safety and security of our neighborhoods.”

This article originally appeared in The Tennessee Tribune.

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Black History

Oakland Observes Black August with Block Parties, Film Showings, Workshops

On Aug. 7, 1970, Jonathan Jackson burst into a Marin County courtroom armed with a shotgun to demand the freedom of the Soledad Brothers. He, along with the inmates he freed, was shot and killed while driving away. This involved one of the Black Panther Party’s most notable associates, Angela Davis, because the shotgun was registered in her name. She was later acquitted for charges of conspiracy, kidnapping, and murder in 1972.

Published

6 days ago

August 19, 2026

bpusa-syndication

By Jana Lang Post Youth Writer

Study. Train. Fast. Fight.

These are the four tenets of Black August, a month dedicated to commemorating the sacrifices of political prisoners and Black revolutionaries in the struggle for Black liberation.

Observers are urged to study the history of the Black struggle for freedom, train their bodies for health and self-defense, fast to cleanse the mind, body, and spirit, and fight ongoing oppression alongside their communities and local political organizations.

In Oakland, Black August celebrations are being held all month long. It has particular significance here because of the links between the Black Panthers’ organizing activities that highlighted both the social conditions and over-policing of the Black community, leading to the high incarceration rates and disproportionately long prison sentences.

Beginning in 1979 in San Quentin State Prison, the Black Guerrilla Family called for the remembrance of political prisoner George Jackson and his brother Jonathan Jackson, who were assassinated in the early 1970s. George Jackson was considered a political prisoner in that it was the anti-Black justice system that led to his incarceration for armed robbery with a sentence of one year-to-life in 1960.

While in prison, George befriended fellow prisoner W.L. Nolen, who introduced him to the works of Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, Mao Zedong, and Frantz Fanon. This radicalization coupled with his experiences of violence while imprisoned led to him writing and publishing two books, “Soledad Brother” (1970), and “Blood in my Eye” (1972). In January of 1970, George and two other prisoners were charged with murdering a corrections officer at Soledad State Prison in Monterey County.

On Aug. 21, 1971, George Jackson was assassinated by a corrections officer after attempting to escape and free other inmates. As a result, there were uprisings and protests within prisons all over the country that year, calling forth resistance against racial oppression and mass incarceration.

Since its outset, Black August has evolved across the country, taking many forms to honor this history and embody the four tenets.

In Oakland, the upcoming Black August Experience, hosted by Youth Alive! and the East Oakland Boxing Association (EOBA), is a free, family-friendly event celebrating the legacy of Black August. Activities include free food and drinks, a kids’ activity zone, interactive workshops, live cooking and boxing demonstrations, and more.

Happening on Aug. 21 from 4-8 p.m. at the EOBA Patio, Carolyn Flynn, director of administration at EOBA, said the event, in its second year, will be an opportunity to engage with people in person through food, shared space, and education.

“We do regular classes in education, and those are ongoing programs that we offer, but we wanted to have [an opportunity] for our neighbors to utilize this space.” Combined with Youth Alive’s work in community violence prevention and youth leadership, this event surely aims to bring the Oakland community together to capture what Black August means today.

Here are additional Black August events happening in Oakland:

Forum and Community Discussion hosted by the Oakland Liberation Center, 1499 Fruitvale Ave., Aug. 14, 7 p.m.

“George Jackson/San Quentin” Screening hosted by Nostalgic for Nothing Cinema at Moments Co-Op, 410 13th St., Aug. 16, doors at 6 p.m., show at 6:30 p.m. (Masks required and scent-free)

Commemorating the Struggle, Building the Altar for Liberation: Black August at Bandung Books, 2269 International Blvd., Aug. 23, 1-5 p.m.

Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency (BOSS), will host “Black August: The Arc of Liberation” at Oakland City Hall on Sat. Aug. 29, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

bpusa-syndication

Posts by bpusa-syndication

Black History

Oakland Observes Black August with Block Parties, Film Showings, Workshops

POST NEWS GROUP — Beginning in 1979 in San Quentin State Prison, the Black Guerrilla Family called for the remembrance of political prisoner George Jackson and his brother Jonathan Jackson who were assassinated in the early 1970s. George Jackson was considered a political prisoner in that it was the anti-Black justice system that led to his incarceration for armed robbery with a sentence of one year-to-life in 1960.

Published

1 week ago

August 15, 2026

bpusa-syndication

George Jackson wrote two books: “Soledad Brother,” and “Blood in My Eye” before her was killed in an attempt to escape prison on Aug. 21, 1971.

By Jana Lang, Propel Youth Reporter

Study. Train. Fast. Fight.

These are the four tenets of Black August, a month dedicated to commemorating the sacrifices of political prisoners and Black revolutionaries in the struggle for Black liberation.

Beginning in 1979 in San Quentin State Prison, the Black Guerrilla Family called for the remembrance of political prisoner George Jackson and his brother Jonathan Jackson who were assassinated in the early 1970s. George Jackson was considered a political prisoner in that it was the anti-Black justice system that led to his incarceration for armed robbery with a sentence of one year-to-life in 1960.

On Aug. 7, 1970, Jonathan Jackson burst into a Marin County courtroom armed with a shotgun to demand the freedom of the Soledad Brothers. He, along with the inmates he freed, was shot and killed while driving away. This involved one of the Black Panther Party’s most notable associates, Angela Davis, because the shotgun was registered in her name. She was later acquitted of charges of conspiracy, kidnapping, and murder in 1972.

Since its outset, Black August has evolved across the country, taking many forms to honor this history and embody the four tenets.

Here are additional Black August events happening in Oakland:

Forum and Community Discussion hosted by the Oakland Liberation Center, 1499 Fruitvale Ave., Aug. 14, 7 p.m.

“George Jackson/San Quentin” Screening hosted by Nostalgic for Nothing Cinema at Moments Co-Op, 410 13th St., Aug. 16, doors at 6 p.m., show at 6:30 p.m. (Masks required and scent-free)

Commemorating the Struggle, Building the Altar for Liberation: Black August at Bandung Books, 2269 International Blvd., Aug. 23rd, 1-5 p.m.

Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency (BOSS), will host “Black August: The Arc of Liberation” at Oakland City Hall on Sat. Aug. 29, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.