What happens while cities sleep? Police officer gives up-close look at midnight shift

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    NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) — Many in Middle Tennessee are in bed or getting ready to go to bed by 10:30 p.m., but not Officer Brenna Hosey and other Metro Nashville Police officers who work the midnight shift.

“People are fascinated, honestly, by people that work the midnight shift and how we do it. They ask, ‘How do you do that? Aren’t you tired? How do you sleep during the daytime?’ I’m like room darkening curtains are a miracle,” Hosey said.

Hosey has been on the midnight shift for three years and said she enjoys her unconventional work schedule.

The Metro Police officers, who evacuated residents on Christmas morning before the explosion, spoke to the media about what happened before and after the blast in downtown Nashville.

“What I like is that you’re busy at the beginning of shifts, and then it kind of tapers off and you can be more proactive,” Hosey said.

That proactive effort includes checking on businesses along Broadway.

“With everything being shut down early, we’re worried about commercial burglaries and doors that just happen to be left open,” Hosey said.

While the particular night was pretty quiet, that’s not always the case.

The coyote ran past a security checkpoint at 7th Avenue South and Korean Veterans Boulevard around 10:20 p.m.

Hosey has experienced multiple high-profile incidents, including helping capture a coyote that snuck into the Music City Center in 2019. More recently she was among the officers evacuating Second Avenue before the Christmas Day bombing.

“Never, even in Academy or starting out on rotations, did I think, ‘Oh, I’m going to have a coyote in the back of my patrol car or I’m gonna try and save a coyote,’” Hosey said. “The bombing was definitely at the bottom of the list. Never did I think something like that would happen here.”

Hosey said with what she’s experienced so far in her career, she’s excited to see what the next 20 years will be like and who she may help.

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