History and Mission of the Nashville Safe Place Program

The Safe Place program is a police sponsored and overseen initiative originally created by Officer Jim Ritter of the Seattle Police Department. The program was created out of a need to address the low reporting of anti-LGBTQ crimes and school bullying incidents by increasing public trust in law enforcement and feelings of safety in the community. The program was expanded in 2018 to include anyone who was a victim of a bias crime. The Metro Nashville Police Department adopted the Safe Place program and launched it in early 2019.