Metro police on Tuesday filed a civil lawsuit to wrest control of an area in South Nashville from the clutches of the Kurdish Pride gang by banning members from congregating in a 1.47-mile “safety zone.”
The department is targeting 24 of what they call the “worst of the worst” members of the gang, hoping a judge will ban them from publicly gathering in a zone that encompasses part of an area known as Little Kurdistan and includes Paragon Mills and Providence Park. The injunction lawsuit is the fruit of a three-year effort to combat gangs for detectives to build their case and attorneys to try and bullet-proof it from legal challenges. The injunction is the first of its kind ever filed in Tennessee, but a tactic used successfully for years in other states like California.
“Our police department will not sit idly by when a street gang threatens the peace of our community,” said Metro Police Chief Steve Anderson at a news conference held in Paragon Mills, the site detectives say hosted Kurdish Pride gang meetings. “We want to give this park back to the citizens.”
Police say Kurdish Pride members were involved in at least one murder, multiple beatings and shootings, drug dealing, illegal weapons and vandalism. Incidents include the 2006 attempted murder of a Metro Parks Police officer and multiple graffiti messages threatening a Metro Police Gang Unit detective.
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