In a heated discussion with Nashville Mayor David Briley during a legislative hearing Wednesday, Tennessee's House majority leader criticized the people of Davidson County for their decision to support a community oversight board with subpoena power.

The 11-member civilian-led police review board, approved by 59 percent of the vote in November, would be disarmed of its authority to subpoena people and evidence under a bill Republicans have filed this session to govern how police oversight boards can operate.

House GOP leader and former prosecutor William Lamberth, R-Portland, admitted he had become "emotional" as he told Briley the people of Nashville were "living in a fairy-tale land" and are spending too much effort trying to prosecute police and not supporting them.

Briley was allowed to speak to the House criminal justice subcommittee about House Bill 658, which lawmakers voted to advance to the judiciary committee. The bill is sponsored by Rep. Michael Curcio, R-Dickson.

The committee's two Democrats, House Minority Leader Karen Camper and Rep. Antonio Parkinson, both of Memphis, opposed the bill's advancement by voice vote.

Lamberth charged that Metro Nashville Police Department officers felt as though "this city has turned their back" on them.

"They are demoralized, they have been knocked down," Lamberth said. "They feel like this city hates them."

Briley disputed Lamberth's suggestion about officer sentiment, saying he has spoken with a number of members of Nashville's police force and there is "a broad perspective" among the officers.

"Some officers would say we need it," Briley said.

In his comments to the committee, Briley read from the first section of the Tennessee Constitution, which starts with "That all power is inherent in the people," who have "an unalienable and indefeasible right to alter, reform, or abolish the government in such manner as they may think proper."

Briley told them he believed the bill stood in contrast to the state constitution.

"This bill rejects the will, rejects the will of the voters of Nashville and Davidson County," Briley said. "It silences those individuals who are subject to policing in our county, and it undermines the effectiveness of a board that was frankly adopted not only in compliance with the charter of Metro Nashville and Davidson County, but adopted in compliance with state law at the time."

Like Knoxville Police Chief Eve Thomas, who spoke after Briley, he told the committee that the state's revocation of the oversight board's subpoena power would erode trust in the police department.

"With all your good intentions, adopting this legislation will further undermine my city's ability to build trust between the police and the policed," Briley said.

Thomas, discussing Knoxville's two-decade-old Police Advisory & Review Committee, testified that the group has never had to use the subpoena power it possesses, but that removing it would produce "unrest in my community that (police) will have to repair."

"The relationship we have with our community because we have the PARC, it helps us to police better," Thomas said. "It helps our community to understand why we police the way we do."

After hearing from cities around the state with existing community oversight boards, Curcio on Wednesday filed an amendment to the bill that would allow those cities one year after the date the legislation becomes effective to come into compliance with guidelines regarding board membership requirements.

Reach Natalie Allison at nallison@tennessean.com. Follow her on Twitter at @natalie_allison.

DOWNLOAD THE APP: Get the latest news from The Tennessean on your mobile device.

Want to read more stories like this? A subscription to one of our Tennessee publications gets you unlimited access to all the latest politics news, podcasts like Grand Divisions, plus newsletters, a personalized mobile experience and the ability to tap into stories, photos and videos from throughout the USA TODAY Network's 109 local sites.