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Decentralization Increases Arrests, Seizures
Earlier this year Metro Police Chief Ronal Serpas decided to decentralize the police force.
11-26-2004 | NewsChannel5

He moved detectives out of downtown and into other parts of town as a way to crack down on crime.

Friday, Serpas said the plan is working and he has the numbers to back it up.

The fight against illegal drugs in Nashville changed when Chief Ronal Serpas moved detectives out of the criminal justice center to the outlying precincts.

“When we decentralized on July first we wanted the precincts to have available to them narcotics based detectives, neighborhood detectives,” Serpas said.

Now, the detectives are closer to the neighborhoods.

“Before decentralization it could be as long as a week, sometimes longer before we could get a good response on” drug incidents, Serpas said.

Serpas' strategy appears to be working. Since decentralization drug arrests are up 128 percent

The amount of cocaine and Marijuana recovered has increased 930 percent for Marijuana and nearly 6,000 percent for cocaine.