Knoxville Police Depart touched by local support after officers killed

The Knoxville Police Department has seen an outpouring of community support following the slayings of officers in Louisiana Sunday and Texas earlier this month.

KPD employees say they consider the officers killed in the attacks in Baton Rouge and Dallas as part of their larger law enforcement family.

Waving outside the Knoxville Police Department, flags at half-staff serve as a seemingly constant reminder that tensions, unlike these banners, are as high as they can be.

However, that's not stopping David Corbin from applying to the Knoxville police academy.

"You're always going to have bad or good people in anything you do, and I feel like sometimes the bad gets focused on quite a bit," Corbin said Monday afternoon, before his interview for the academy. "I try not to let it hinder me too much, because no matter what is going on, I'll be - to my best ability - the good."

The good can be found in the many gestures of thanks from community members to KPD in the wake of the recent killings of law enforcement officers. In the past week, the Knoxville Police Department has received cards, baked goods and flowers from community members wishing to say thanks and express their support for local law enforcement.

"Showing us that they really support us has really made a lot of difference here," Lt. Susan Coker said.

She shared an experience she had last week, when she was at a store in uniform and a woman approached her.

"She asked me if she could hug me, and, of course, I said, 'Sure,' because I was excited that someone cared enough," Coker said, with a smile on her face.

The Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police is asking all law enforcement officers in the state to "shroud" their badge this week. That means putting a black elastic band over the center of the badge as a sign of mourning.

Rest of story RIGHT HERE.

Letter: KPD Chief thanks community

David Rausch

Letter to the Knoxville Community,

Thank you to all of you who have called, sent letters, emails, messages, personal contact and dropped off food in support of the women and men of the Knoxville Police Department.

The outpouring of support has been tremendous and humbling. We strive every day to assure that we provide fair, equal, and Constitutional policing for our community. The sanctity of life is our primary focus.

We attempt to be engaged from the officer on the street to the Chief’s Office with all in our neighborhoods. These efforts are to assure that tragic events that have happened over the past week in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Falcon Heights, Minnesota, Johnson City, Tennessee, and Dallas, Texas do not happen here.

We have had a number of calls wanting to hold events for our employees at KPD at various locations throughout the city. We really do appreciate this show of support and desire to show our officers you are there for them.

The challenge of having events is that it pulls officers away from their duties when they are on the job and away from their families when they are at home.

We have found the best way to show officers how you feel is to tell them publicly when you see them. Others like our Chaplains Corps and the Cookie Crusaders have provided goody bags to the officers as they are leaving their roll calls.

If you would like to arrange to do something like this, please contact my office and our team can coordinate with you. There have been offers of financial support as well, and we ask you to consider donating to the Knoxville Public Safety Foundation, a foundation that supports the needs of local first responders, that can be contacted at www.publicsafetyfoundation.org

These are challenging times and those of us in law enforcement service in the City of Knoxville remain committed to assuring the safety of all in our community.

Thank you again to all of you who have been so very kind and considerate of those in blue serving you.

Humbly,
David Rausch
Chief of Police

Unwanted medication collection event

Members of the East Tennessee Regional Medication Collection Coalition will be on hand to collect and properly dispose of unwanted medicines Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Food City in Fountain City located at 4805 North Broadway near Adair Drive.

Medicines can only be dropped off at this location during the event. At all other times, Knox County residents can bring old or unused medicines to the Knoxville Police Department Safety Building at 800 Howard Baker Jr. Ave. The Safety Building is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

This event is sponsored by: the Knoxville Police Department, Knox County and City of Knoxville Solid Waste Offices, Knox County Health Department, Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, UT Academy of Student Pharmacists, KUB, the Metropolitan Drug Commission, WBIR and WUOT.

For more information visit http://www.medicationcollection.org/.

City says goodbye to KPD Chief Allen

Rausch, left, with Allen (Photo: KPD)

Knoxville officials recently bid farewell to (now former) Deputy Police Chief, Nate Allen recognizing 29 years of service  at the Safety Building on Howard Baker Jr. Ave.

Nate was a good dude. Always liked him.

A news release noted that Allen, the department's first black deputy chief, served in a variety of roles since joining KPD in 1986, including East District commander, staff officer to the police chief, homeland security coordinator and commander of the Criminal Investigations Division.

He left to become police chief in Decatur, Ala., which is near Huntsville. It has a population of about 56,000.

"Chief Allen has been instrumental throughout his career in building positive relationships with Knoxville's many diverse communities," said Knoxville Police Chief, David Rausch in a released statement.

Decatur, Ala., is in north Alabama near Huntsville. It has a population of about 56,000.

Knoxville police revise moonlighting policy in wake of improper K-9 use

The Knoxville Police Department on Tuesday announced that it has changed its policies tied to employee freelancing after four K-9 officers were disciplined for moonlighting in Ohio, Oklahoma, and Texas and didn’t report their activities.

The move, discussed publicly on Tuesday, comes in the wake of a six-month long Internal Affairs investigation kicked off in mid-April after two officers complained to the city’s law department about “multiple violations of the secondary employment policy,” according to KPD Police Chief David Rausch.

Three of the officers – Darrell Sexton, Adam Moore and Richard Wallace – took police dogs to other states to perform drug searches on traveling circus trains, Rausch said. In addition, Lt. Doug Stiles authorized the actions, which were “outside the scope of services provided by KPD."

The officers used the dogs on four occasions in 2012 and 2013.

Also, Sexton took just under half an ounce of marijuana that was confiscated in May 2012 in Columbus, Ohio with him back to Knoxville to use in canine training. City officials said he never removed it from the trunk of his KPD cruiser and it was still there - three years later - when IA interviewed him.

Sexton then removed the drugs from his car and properly logged them with the KPD Property Unit.
Rausch stressed that none of his employees broke the law, but rather violated city and police department policies and procedures.

He said the officers never submitted the proper forms to moonlight, and failed to submit the proper paperwork to use the dogs.

The chief also said that “there was no intention to hide the drugs from anyone – the biggest issue we had with it was that it was never documented.”

Rest of the story RIGHT HERE.

Burchett to honor law enforcement by feeding them Vol Market hot dogs

Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett wants to buy a chili dog and Stormin’ Normin sweet tea for law enforcement officers in appreciation for their service to our community, according to a spin release issued no doubt by Michael the bicycle rider Grider

Burchett is inviting all law enforcement officers, including KPD, KCSO, TBI, FBI, UTPD and THP, to Vol Market #3 on Western Avenue for lunch. The event takes place on Friday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

El Cheapskate is actually picking up the tab on this one. 

“Our law enforcement officers work hard every day to keep us safe, and they deserve our thanks,” Burchett said. “This is a very simple way to let them know that we appreciate what they do. Besides, who doesn’t like a Vol Market chili dog?”

Knoxville police lieutenant dies suddenly due to medical issues

Hembree

Condolences to KPD and the Hembree family. Sent last evening:

This afternoon at approximately 4:00 p.m., the wife of Knoxville Police Department Lt. Robert Hembree arrived at their residence where she discovered her husband suffering from some type of medical problem.

Rural Metro Ambulance responded to the residence and transported Lt. Hembree to Physicians Regional Medical Center where he died just minutes after arriving. It is unknown at this time what caused Lt. Hembree’s death. An autopsy will be performed tomorrow to determine the cause of death.

Lt. Hembree, 42, has served with the Knoxville Police Department since January 1997. Lt. Hembree is the West District C Squad supervisor. Lt. Hembree is survived by his wife of 7 years, two sisters, and his parents who are missionaries and are currently in Romania. There are no children.

Chief David Rausch said, “We are shocked and extremely saddened by the sudden loss of Lt. Hembree. Lt. Hembree was an excellent public servant not only as an officer, but also as a member of the U.S. Army Reserves where he served 8 years. This is a tremendous loss for the department as well as the City of Knoxville. Each and every member of the KPD family offers our thoughts and heartfelt prayers to his wife and family.”

Arrangements will be announced as soon as they have been finalized.

New look for KPD uniforms unveiled

KPD's newest patch, left, and most recent one

The Knoxville Police Department's uniforms are getting a new look. For the fourth time in the department's 166-year history, the department is adding a new design to its uniform: a shoulder patch.

Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero and Police Chief David Rausch unveiled the new shoulder patch for the department's uniforms late Tuesday morning at the Safety Center. The last time the patch was redesigned was in the 1970s.

Chief Rausch said the department has worked on this patch for more than a year, and it's only the fourth patch in the department's history. The department said the new patch reflects qualities of the city, including scenes of the Great Smoky Mountains, the Sunsphere, the Howard Baker Jr. Federal Courthouse, Ayers Hall, and other iconic sites.

Past KPD patches

Some officers are already wearing the new patch, and the department will add more through the month. Chief Rausch said the city won't bear any additional costs for the patch.

KPD to change style of uniforms

Well, this is interesting.  Just got a note from the city that Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero and Knoxville Police Chief David Rausch will hold a news conference at 10 a.m. tomorrow to announce a change to KPD's uniforms. The note didn't say a whole lot.

Although it mentioned that the move is only the fourth time in the department's 166-year history that it's happened. No clue what they'll look like. The picture above is the current style.

E-911 board declines to approve radio systems contract, requiring do-over

Knox County-Knoxville evaluation team spent more than 18 months overseeing a bidding and negotiation process to replace an outdated emergency radio broadcasting system that is used by thousands of local first responders.

But on Wednesday, the Knox County E-911 board of directors declined to approve the $9 million contract, opting instead to send it back and have officials start over.

Full story RIGHT HERE.

KPD: No driving fatalities during holiday break; plenty of DUIs

Knoxville Police Chief David Rausch today announced traffic enforcement results from the Thanksgiving holiday period, according to a KPD release.  The enforcement effort began at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday and concluded at Midnight on Sunday.

Rausch said during the 104 hour long period, officers issued 983 driving related citations.  Of the 983 citations, 39 motorists were cited for not wearing a safety belt.  Five (5) additional motorists were cited for violating the child restraint law.  Eighty-nine (89) motorists were caught either driving on a suspended license, a revoked license or driving with no license at all.  Officers also investigated 58 vehicle crashes.  Four (4) of the crashes resulted in personal injuries.  No fatalities were recorded during the holiday reporting period.

Officers arrested 17 motorists for Driving Under the Influence (DUI) during the specialized enforcement campaign.  Two (2) DUI arrests occurred on Wednesday.  Three (3) DUI arrests were recorded on Thursday.  Five (5) DUI arrests were made on Friday.  Officers recorded four (4) DUI arrests on Saturday and three (3) on Sunday.

Knoxville Police Department to host 3-day law enforcement conference

I thought this was interesting. The Knoxville Police Department beginning tomorrow will host the first annual conference of the Tennessee Association of Law Enforcement Analysts (TALEA), according to a release the department sent my way.

The three-day conference will be held at the Crowne Plaza on Summit Hill Drive.  The goal of TALEA is to build a stronger community of law enforcement analysts throughout the state of Tennessee.  The conference will provide training on tools, tips, and techniques for crime analysts.

Crime analysts provide valuable crime fighting tools that help reduce crime within our communities.  Topics will include training on predictive policing, techniques for gathering intelligence on gangs, crime mapping, and building a repeat offender database. 

The opening ceremonies begin at 8:30 a.m.

City study shows below average pay for Knoxville police and fire

Knoxville city leaders plan to meet in December to discuss government employees' wages.

This comes after a study (2014 General Employee & Public Safety Total Compensation Studies) revealed pay for firefighters and police officers in Knoxville is below the market average.

The city of Knoxville paid Segal Waters Consulting $215,000 to complete the study. It broke city pay into three categories: general employees, police and fire.

PRESENTATION: Power Point report of study

The study showed Knoxville's police and fire wages are about 12 percent to 13 percent below market average.

Segal Waters Consulting looked at both base pay and total compensation costs which includes health and retirement benefits.

With base pay and benefits, a Knoxville Police Department (KPD) recruit makes about $45,392 compared to the market average minimum of $46,363. The gap is much larger higher up the ladder; a KPD Police Captain makes about $86,570 compared to the market average of $99,399.

Rest of the story RIGHT SMACK HERE.

Allen named new KPD deputy chief

Nate Allen

Knoxville Police Chief David Rausch today named Captain Nate Allen as the new Deputy Chief for the department.

Deputy Chief Allen has been with KPD since 1986, according to a news release.

Chief Rausch said Deputy Chief Allen has served in various roles during his tenure with the department. He was promoted to Sergeant in 1992 and Lieutenant in 1996. In 2000, Allen was promoted to the rank of Captain where he served as the East District Commander.

 Chief Allen also served as the Staff Officer to the Chief of Police, Homeland Security Coordinator, and Commander over Persons and Property Crimes in the Criminal Investigations Division.

Chief Allen has a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration with a specialization in Homeland Security from North Central University where he graduated Magna Cum Laude. Allen is also a graduate of the Georgia State University Senior Law Enforcement Command College and the FBI National Academy Session 196.

Chief Rausch said, “Deputy Chief Allen’s experience has been a tremendous asset to the Knoxville Police Department and the City of Knoxville. We look forward to his continued leadership in his new role as the Division Commander of the Criminal Investigations Division.”

Deputy Chief Allen will be officially sworn in during a 4:00 p.m. ceremony on Thursday, August 14, 2014, in the Civic Coliseum Ballroom.

Knoxville crews battling graffiti

Knoxville is partnering with other public sector entities – including the Public Building Authority, Knoxville Utilities Board and the Central Business Improvement District – to combat a rise in graffiti, according to a news release it issued earlier today.

But David Brace, Public Service Director for the city, said help from residents and businesses is necessary. That means quickly reporting to the Knoxville Police Department any time taggers are seen defacing any property, and it also means owners doing their part to quickly remove graffiti on private property.

Figure this wall will be a mess again in a few days. Heh.

Immediate and persistent removal of graffiti – within a day or two – is a vital key in discouraging taggers.

“It is critical that we consistently clean damaged public property and work with the Knoxville Police Department to prevent graffiti in the future,” Brace said. “For the private sector, graffiti is an expensive and unfortunate part of managing property.

“We understand it’s frustrating to have to spend time and money cleaning up damaged signs and buildings from spray paint and markers, but that’s really the best long-term solution

Brace’s crews have a new tool: The City recently purchased a new water-sand pressure washer with money from the CBID and the downtown capital improvements fund. The pressure washer was used to successfully remove graffiti from the Knoxville Area Transit (KAT) downtown station (before and after photos attached).

Graffiti throughout Knoxville on both private and public assets is on the rise. The Knoxville Police Department believes this is an issue across the State of Tennessee – and that many of Knoxville’s most visible taggers operate in multiple municipalities, making them tough to apprehend.

Graffiti contributes to declines in property value, and it generates the perception of blight. The appearance of graffiti on public and private buildings is often perceived by residents and visitors as a sign that a downward spiral has begun, even though this may not be true.

“Addressing this issue will require multiple tactics, including public awareness, education, law enforcement and finally a commitment by public sector entities to quickly clean tagged facilities,” Brace said.

The City of Knoxville and the Knoxville Police Department are encouraging citizens to report incidents of graffiti by calling 311 for non-emergency events or 911 if property damage is actively in process.

Stokes to run for Circuit Ct Judge

Knoxville lawyer Billy Stokes today announced that he will seek the office of Judge, Knox County Circuit Court, Div. 1, bringing the total of Republican candidates at this point to three.

"My career as an attorney has enabled me to serve both in private practice and government service," Stokes said in a statement. 'there is no more important, responsible or accountable position in our justice system than the position of Judge. After consulting my family and members of my firm, I believe I can do the best job in this role for the people of Knox County."

According to the rest of his release, Stokes has practiced law in Knox County for more than 30 years, with most of it at the Circuit Court level. He was a Captain in the U.S. Army, Judge Advocate General's Corps (JAGC) and served in the Tennessee governor's cabinet and on senior staff.

Early in his career, he work for the Knoxville Police Department, the Knox County Juvenil Court and the East TN Regional Juvenile Detention Center.

He is currently a shareholder in the firm, Williams, Sharp, Davies, Cope & Mann, P.C.

In addition to Stokes, local attorney and former county GOP Chairman Ray Jenkins and attorney Kristi Davis, who represented the family that got yelled at by a judge for naming their kid "Messiah," are running for the seat.

Also, from what I understand Knox County Assistant Attorney General Leland Price will run as a Democrat for a Criminal Court Judge seat (different race).

And, of course, I’ll be running as a write-in candidate because, quite frankly, I think it would be bad a$$ to get that gig and then walk around the Death Star all day in the black robe like freakin’ Lord Vader. (Not to be confused with Lord McIntyre of course.)

Funeral services for Officer Munson set, public welcome to show support

Officer David Munson

The funeral service for Knoxville Officer David Munson will begin at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, November 1, 2013, at Chilhowee Hills Baptist Church, 4615 Asheville Highway.

Interment will follow in Atchley’s Seymour Memory Gardens, 122 Peacock Court (behind Atchley Funeral Home in Seymour).  The procession is expected to leave the church at approximately 12:15 p.m. and will take the following route:

• West on Magnolia to Hall of Fame
• South on Hall of Fame to Howard Baker Jr. 
• East on Howard Baker Jr. to Hill Ave.
• South on Hill then across the South Knox Bridge to Moody
• West on Moody to Chapman Hwy
• South on Chapman Hwy to grave site

Members of the community are welcome to show their support during the procession.  Knoxville Police Department employees who are unable to attend the service will show their support as the procession passes by the Safety Building.

The Knoxville Fire Department will display the American Flag from their ladder trucks behind the Safety Building on Hill Avenue. The community also needs to be advised that traffic will be briefly stopped to allow the passing of the procession.