Oak Ridge Today

Police standoff that starts with report of gun, disturbance ends peacefully

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Jellico Lane Standoff Police

The Oak Ridge Police Department responds to a Monday morning standoff on Jellico Lane that started with a report of a disturbance and a gun.

 

Woman taken into custody after four hours

Note: This story was updated at 4:07 p.m.

A four-hour standoff between the Oak Ridge Police Department and a Jellico Lane resident that started with a report of a disturbance and a gun ended peacefully Monday morning.

The standoff started at about 6:48 a.m. at 123 Jellico Lane, the ORPD said. Initial reports said a firearm was displayed during the neighborhood dispute, according to ORPD Chief Jim Akagi and Lt. John Kelly. Many officers responded, including several from the department’s Crisis Intervention Team, and tactical personnel were called in to help secure the scene, Kelly said.

A CIT officer trained in crisis negotiation was able to talk to the resident, Patsy Oliver, 62, and she was taken into custody at about 10:41 a.m. Oliver was taken to Methodist Medical Center for treatment of an unrelated laceration on her hand and further evaluation, the ORPD said in a Monday afternoon press release.

“Charges against Ms. Oliver are forthcoming,” the press release said. “No further details will be released at this time.” [Read more…]

Guest column: School safety update

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Trina Baughn

Trina Baughn

Since the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Oak Ridge Schools and the Oak Ridge Police Department (ORPD) last August, a number of significant safety improvements have occurred within our schools including physical security upgrades, leadership adjustments, and increased police presence.

As you may know, this time last year, we had only one School Resource Officer (SRO) covering our entire school district. Now we have two full time SROs, two Support Services Unit (SSU) officers manning satellite offices, and the Adopt-a-Cop program, which provides officer time in all of our schools via daily check-ins. A third satellite office is in the works as ORPD Chief Jim Akagi and Superintendent Bruce Borchers are presently working on stationing an SSU officer at Robertsville Middle School.

Chief Akagi recently invited me to join our SROs on a walk-along at the high school to personally observe the impact of these changes. He also encouraged me to tag along with our S.W.A.T. team during a threat assessment exercise. I took him up on both offers and, as a result, am sharing what I learned. [Read more…]

New ORPD hardware, software package to allow officers to issue electronic citations

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Oak Ridge Police Department and Spillman Technologies

Oak Ridge Police Chief Jim Akagi, left, explains a new hardware and software suite that the City Council agreed to buy for the police department on Monday.

Note: This story was updated at 5:30 p.m.

A new roughly $500,000 hardware and software suite purchased for the Oak Ridge Police Department includes an electronic citation system that will allow officers to scan driver’s licenses with handheld units and quickly issue multiple citations.

The new system will save time because it will, among other things, automatically download information from the electronic tickets, including into the court system, officials said.

“It’s a lot quicker, a lot more effective,” Oak Ridge Police Chief Jim Akagi said during a January work session with the City Council.

Officials said the ability to issue tickets quicker could produce more revenue for the city and more effective law enforcement. They said it will also eliminate some problems with the current system, such as messy handwriting on paper tickets and the need to duplicate data entry in the police department and then again in the court system. [Read more…]

New SRO approved at Oak Ridge Schools, could start Monday

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Oak Ridge City Council

The Oak Ridge City Council voted 5-1 on Monday to approve a move that allows another school resource officer, or SRO, to be added to Oak Ridge Schools.

Note: This story was updated at 9:45 a.m. Jan. 14.

The Oak Ridge City Council approved a move on Monday that will add a second school resource officer in the city’s schools, and the new SRO could start Monday.

The new SRO is Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Michael Swigert. The current SRO is Officer Sherrill Selby.

It’s not as big a step as some officials had proposed during the past few years. There have been various proposals to have a total of three SROs, including one at each of the city’s two middle schools, or even more, perhaps one SRO at each school. The discussions seemed to gain urgency after the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in December 2012, but funding has been an obstacle. [Read more…]

City move could add another police officer to Oak Ridge Schools

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Oak Ridge High School

The number of reported crimes is down at Oak Ridge High School since police officers were given office space there in August, and a move recommended by city administrators could add another school resource officer in the Oak Ridge school system.

The number of reported crimes is down at Oak Ridge High School since police officers were given office space there in August, and a move recommended by city administrators could add another school resource officer in the Oak Ridge school system.

It’s part of a program to improve student safety and use law enforcement to reduce unacceptable student behaviors, Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson and Police Chief Jim Akagi said.

Oak Ridge Schools now have one school resource officer, or SRO. There have been discussions about adding more officers, especially since the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in December 2012, but funding has been an obstacle.

On Monday, the Oak Ridge City Council will consider a resolution that would allow the Oak Ridge Police Department to hire an extra police officer, exceeding its authorized personnel staffing levels, in order to assign an existing police officer as an SRO. There have been proposals to add more—in December, City Council member Trina Baughn proposed one at each of the city’s two middle schools—but Watson and Akagi are recommending one additional officer now. [Read more…]

Family identifies woman who died after falling into Civic Center fountain

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Oak Ridge Civic Center Fountain

Family members have identified an Oak Ridge woman who fell into the fountain at the Civic Center in June and died in the hospital 13 days later.

Family members have identified an Oak Ridge woman who fell into the fountain at the Civic Center in June and died in the hospital 13 days later.

Sarah Christine McAdams, 26, was found floating face down in the murky brown water, which is about 14” inches deep, on June 3. Two people reported the incident to the Civic Center staff, while a third tried to pull McAdams out of the water, city officials said.

Rescuers tried to resuscitate her immediately, and McAdams, who lived on Manhattan Avenue in the Woodland neighborhood, was rushed to Methodist Medical Center, city officials said at the time, without identifying the woman.

She died June 16, according to records provided by her mother, Lori Holt, of Murrell’s Inlet, S.C., which is south of Myrtle Beach. [Read more…]

Red light camera ‘scam’ actually an ORAU training exercise

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Note: This story was last updated at 9:25 a.m. Nov. 19.

The red light camera scam that authorities warned about on Monday evening was actually a training exercise intended to only be used internally at Oak Ridge Associated Universities, a spokeswoman said Tuesday.

The e-mails were created as part of ORAU’s cybersecurity training, and they were meant to help educate employees about so-called “phishing” scams.

The e-mails told recipients they had been captured on camera running a red light and had to pay a $50 fine. They instructed recipients to pay a fine through a PayPal link and warned them they could be subject to an extra $95 fee if they failed to do so. [Read more…]

Police arrest two teens after recovering items from two-week burglary spree

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Burglary Items Recovered by ORPD

The Oak Ridge Police Department recovered several thousand dollars worth of merchandise allegedly stolen during a string of burglaries during the past two weeks. Two teenagers were arrested and charged with burglary and possession of stolen property.

Police searching an apartment in east Oak Ridge early Thursday morning recovered several thousand dollars worth of items allegedly taken in burglaries during the past few weeks, and two teenagers were arrested and charged with burglary and possession of stolen property, authorities said.

The stolen items, which fill a table at the police station, include backpacks and women’s accessories, sporting equipment such as golf clubs, and electronic merchandise  such as cell phones, GPS systems, and a television. Police said they will try to match the items to recent reports of stolen equipment, and officers will call victims.

After the Thursday morning search, the Oak Ridge Police Department arrested Chase Davis, 19, and Bryson Higgins, 18. They both live in an apartment on Erskine Lane at the Tara Hills Apartments, and they face multiple counts of burglary and possession of stolen property. [Read more…]

Two more police officers, sergeant stationed at ORHS, Alternative School

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Oak Ridge High School

Three more Oak Ridge Police Department officers are stationed at Oak Ridge High School and Alternative School this year. The ORPD now has a school resource officer, a sergeant, and two non-patrol officers at the two schools.

Three more Oak Ridge Police Department officers are stationed at Oak Ridge High School and Alternative School this year. However, they are not school resource officers, or SROs.

For the past few years, the ORPD has had an SRO who works mostly at the high school. This year, though, a sergeant and two non-patrol officers are also stationed there and at the Alternative School next door, ORPD Chief Jim Akagi said Monday.

School officials had requested more SROs this year, following the December massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., but funding has been an obstacle. While the new arrangement doesn’t add SROs, it will increase the police presence and visibility, Akagi said.

[Read more…]

Schools have to report illegal activity, turn over dangerous weapons or drugs, agreement says

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Bruce Borchers and Mark Watson

Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers, left, and City Manager Mark Watson during a Monday evening reception for Borchers, who started working in Oak Ridge in June.

School principals have to notify the Oak Ridge school resource officer, or SRO, of suspected illegal activity, and principals or school staff members who locate dangerous weapons or drugs have to turn them over to the SRO, according to a renewable one-year agreement signed Wednesday by municipal and education officials.

School staff members must also provide the SRO with the names of people who are not allowed on school property, and the staff is required to notify the officer when they expect problems from parents of students who have been disciplined.

Meanwhile, the Oak Ridge Police Department is required to tell the school board of criminal gangs and associated criminal gang activity. It wasn’t immediately clear if—or how much—any of those requirements differed from earlier procedures.  [Read more…]

Oak Ridge municipal, education officials reach agreement on school resource officer MOU

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James T. Akagi

James T. Akagi

School safety has been a high-priority issue for many people across the country since the deadly Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings in Connecticut in December.

It’s been an issue in Oak Ridge as well, with proposals to increase the number of school resource officers, or SROs, and a vigorous debate in July that was sparked by a controversial guest column written by Oak Ridge City Council member Trina Baughn.

On Thursday, Oak Ridge municipal and education officials announced a cooperative effort to govern the city’s SRO program. They said an agreement has been reached between city officials and school officials on a memorandum of understanding, or MOU.

[Read more…]

Guest column: Former superintendent rebuts Baughn’s school safety allegations

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Bob Smallridge

Bob Smallridge

The following is in response to a recent letter from Ms. Trina Baughn, which was published in The Oak Ridger on July 3 and subsequently reported in part by other area media.

I recently completed a six-month stint as interim superintendent of the Oak Ridge Schools, covering the period Jan. 1 through June 30. I will not attempt to speak to what might or might not have occurred prior to this time, but will comment only on events where I had some direct involvement during my period of service.

In assuming my role as interim superintendent, one of the things I felt was most important was for me to get out to the schools as frequently as possible. I was in the schools, on  average, twice a week, especially the secondary schools, because they are larger and it takes more time to visit all parts of the buildings. For the most part, my visits came at random times and were unannounced. I visited many classrooms and talked with both teachers and students individually. I saw students moving through the hallways and congregating in the larger assembly spaces in a causal, but controlled manner, enjoying a few minutes to converse with each other. Overall, I observed a very orderly environment based on caring and mutual respect between teachers, administrators, and students.

This is not to say that there are never problems that occur among students. Anytime you bring 700 students together as in the case of the middle schools or almost 1,400 at the high school you can expect instances of inappropriate behavior by a few students. Although most discipline situations are handled at the building level, there were times when it was necessary for me to get involved in reviewing a specific incident. For the most part, I was very comfortable that these situations were handled appropriately and consistently by school staff. [Read more…]