NASHVILLE, TN — Metro Human Resources has finalized a review committee to assist with the next stage of the Chief of Police selection process. The committee includes the following members:
Chief Deb Faulkner. Faulkner leads the Franklin Police Department. She previously served with the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, where
she rose to the rank of Deputy Chief of Police for Uniformed Services, and with the state of Tennessee, where she served as the Inspector General of the Office of Inspector General. She is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and the past president of the Tennessee Chapter of FBI NA Associates and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Tennessee Association of Chiefs. Faulkner holds degrees from the University of Memphis, Middle Tennessee State University, and Vanderbilt University, which awarded her a doctorate in Human Development Counseling. She has served as an adjunct faculty member at Trevecca University, Cumberland University, and Tennessee State University, where she has taught classes in Sociology, Criminal Deviancy, and Management of Law Enforcement Agencies.
Jill Fitcheard. Fitcheard serves as the executive director of Nashville’s Community Oversight Board (COB). She
began her career as a police officer with the Metropolitan Police Department of Washington, D.C., where she worked in Patrol, Narcotics & Special Investigations, and Special Operations. She has also held positions as a program facilitator, a parole and probation officer, and a criminal justice instructor. Prior to joining the COB, Fitcheard served as the chief criminal investigator with the Metro Nashville Public Defender’s Office, where she was an integral part of the leadership team. Fitcheard graduated cum laude from Tennessee State University, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Interdisciplinary Studies with a concentration in Criminal Justice and a minor in Psychology.
Mark Gwyn. Gwyn served as the director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) from
2004 until 2018. Gwyn began his law enforcement career as a patrol officer with the McMinnville Police Department before joining the TBI as a special agent in 1988. In 2004, after leading the TBI’s Forensic Services Division, then-Governor Bill Haslam appointed him Director, making him the agency’s first African American to lead the state’s primary investigative law enforcement agency. A graduate of Middle Tennessee State University, Gwyn also holds a master’s degree from Tennessee State University and has participated in numerous law enforcement leadership training initiatives, including the FBI’s National Executive Institute, Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and the FBI’s Leadership in Counter-Terrorism Program.
Victor “Torry” Johnson. Johnson served as the district attorney for Nashville Davidson
County from 1987 to 2014, having been elected for repeated 8-year terms and serving for more than 26 years, as well as serving on state and national prosecutor organizations. He is currently a professor at the Belmont University College of Law, where he teaches courses on criminal law, criminal procedure, wrongful convictions, and trial advocacy.
Diane Lance. Lance currently serves as the department head for Metro’s Office of Family Safety, overseeing the Jean Crowe Advocacy Center and Nashville’s Family Safety Center designed to improve the coordination of services provided to victims of interpersonal violence. In 1994, she was hired by the Nashville District Attorney’s Office and led their
specialized domestic violence and child sex abuse units. In 2008, she was hired by then-Mayor Karl Dean to lead the city’s 2011 domestic violence safety and accountability assessment and to implement the assessment recommendations. Lance also oversaw the creation of Nashville’s court and community-based Family Justice Centers.
Fifty-seven applicants applied for the position of chief of police. Metro HR staff evaluated all applications and qualified candidates in accordance with the required Civil Service provisions. The review committee will meet in person in early October. It will work with Metro HR staff to narrow the applicants to a list of finalists who will advance to in-person interviews. Finalists will meet with the interview panel and with Mayor John Cooper. By Charter, the mayor selects the chief of police.
“I want to thank Metro HR and all the members of this committee for taking the time to help Nashville select an outstanding law enforcement executive as our next Chief of Police,” Mayor John Cooper said. “We look forward to moving ahead with this process, with a group that reflects the knowledge and diversity of our city.”
“Nashville is fortunate to have such an outstanding group of volunteers to assist in the review and interview process,” said Metro HR Director Shannon Hall. “The experiences and the knowledge they bring to this process will ensure that we have outstanding finalists. We are looking forward to assembling a diverse interview panel that will help Mayor Cooper as he makes the decision as to who Nashville’s next chief of police should be.”