ANTIOCH, Tenn. (WKRN) — The Metro Nashville Police Department’s (MNPD’s) highly-anticipated southeast precinct is expected to open this year.
For one Metro Councilmember, the precinct will mean faster police response times and safer streets.
“We are becoming the live, work, play place that it was intended to be all those years ago,” Metro Councilmember for District 32 Joy Styles said.
In May 2023, the MNPD broke ground on the new southeast precinct, MNPD’s 9th facility. A year later, construction began. Finally, MNPD officials said the new precinct is set to open in 2025.
Styles told News 2 that the precinct will help meet the needs of an ever-growing city. New developments and openings this year include Chinatown, several different restaurants and shops, and Antioch’s first rooftop venue, PopStroke.
“The reality is that we are located in the biggest and busiest precinct in this city,” Styles said. “They are covering 70 square miles for this precinct.”
Police data showed that in 2024, far southeast parts of Davidson County had an average response time of 80 minutes. Those numbers have increased community concerns over safety.
“Having a precinct that’s closer by means we can have better response times,” Styles said. “I think the messaging really is when you know that accountability is close by, you are less prone to want to do something that is going to draw someone’s attention.”
The MNPD told News 2 that the precinct is scheduled to open in the second half of this year. However, they added that the bidding to allocate officers has not yet started yet and will not begin until closer to the precinct’s completion.
“I have no concerns [about hiring] because when we decided that we were finally going to build the precinct, that was built into the plans, so every single class that has been coming out ever since last term has been saying, ‘Okay, here’s a portion; this is how many people that we are going to need for that precinct when it is time,'” Styles said.
The MNPD set up an extra officer patrol shift for the Antioch area last February, which is a decision Styles applauded. She added that 2025 will be a year of more safety and security.
“New precinct, new officers — I think it is just going to be a real lift to people’s spirits,” Styles said.
