Oak Ridge Today

Letter: PBA chapter president hopes for fair, thorough investigation of ORPD

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Editor’s note: This is a copy of a March 3 letter to Oak Ridge City Council.

Dear Oak Ridge City Council members:

I am honored to communicate with you today regarding a very important issue affecting the members of the City of Oak Ridge Police Department. Many of them are affiliated with the Knox County Chapter of the Southern States Police Benevolent Association.

Before I discuss the issue at hand, I want to give you a very brief background regarding the PBA. We are not a union. We do not engage in union activities such as work disruptions or strikes. We are respectful when working with the administrations our officers serve. I’ve found most problems can be resolved if both parties come to the table with an open mind and a willingness to compromise.

The law enforcement officers from Anderson, Loudon, Roane, and Knox counties that make up our chapter depend on our local chapter board to monitor situations and protect their interests. Mostly those interests are confined to the following: a fair working environment and returning home safely at the end of a watch. [Read more…]

Letter: Please consider listening to officers’ concerns

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Randy Myers

Randy Myers

Note: This is a copy of a February 2 letter from former Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Randy Myers to the City Council.

I wanted to respond briefly to the articles that have been written about the administration of the Oak Ridge Police Department. My comments are not directed at any one individual but only at the situation itself.

I’ve been in law enforcement for 25 years now. I know firsthand the stress that an administration can cause on their officers, but I wanted to point out something that most either do not know or just won’t bring it out.

No matter what agency you work for, there are issues within that department that some officer will complain about, or they simply just do not like. They may complain a little, but for the most part they move on with their life. [Read more…]

Letter: City may need to re-visit possible review board for law enforcement

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To the Editor:

It is well-known that systems are healthier and work better when there is the opportunity for feedback.

The Oak Ridge City Charter provides for a Personnel Advisory Board for both city employees and school employees.

Missing, however, is a board for the members of our Police Department. [Read more…]

State: Tennessee legislators introduce bill to stop racial profiling

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Two Tennessee legislators have introduced a bill to help stop racial profiling by law enforcement agencies, a press release said.

The bill was introduced Thursday by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Brian Kelsey, a Germantown Republican, and State Representative John DeBerry, a Memphis Democrat.

In the press release, Kelsey said the bill was created as a result of the events that took place earlier this year in Ferguson, Missouri, where Michael Brown was shot and killed by police officer Darren Wilson during a pursuit of the unarmed teenager. The shooting sparked a national debate about law enforcement’s relationship with African Americans as it relates to the use of force and racial profiling, the release said. [Read more…]

Oneida man gets three-month prison sentence for plot to extort B&W Y-12

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Y-12 Aerial Photo June 2012

The Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge is pictured above in June 2012. (Photo courtesy NNSA)

 

A 25-year-old Scott County man was sentenced to serve three months in prison on Monday after he pleaded guilty in July to charges that he tried to extort Babcock and Wilcox Y-12 LLC, the former managing and operating contractor at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge.

Adam Winters, 25, of Oneida received the sentence in U.S. District Court in Knoxville on Monday, U.S. Attorney William C. Killian said in a press release. After he is released from prison, Winters will be supervised for one year by U.S. Probation.

Killian said Winters, who had appeared on the television reality show “The Millionaire Matchmaker” in February, pleaded guilty in July to transmitting communications containing threats to injure the reputation of B&W Y-12 in interstate and foreign commerce, with intent to extort money and other things of value from the corporation. Winters admitted that he emailed Babcock and Wilcox and attempted to email the vice president of the United States regarding copies of slides that he possessed that contained information he believed would injure the reputation of Babcock and Wilcox. That May 8 email reportedly referred to slides of evidence from nuclear testing. [Read more…]

State officials, local agencies to crack down on seat belt use, impaired driving

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Kendell Poole

Kendell Poole

Traffic fatalities in Anderson County are up significantly this year, and Tennessee officials and local law enforcement agencies will announce a campaign on Monday to crack down on drivers not using seat belts or driving while impaired during the holidays.

The announcement is scheduled for 1 p.m. Monday, November 10, at the Oak Ridge Civic Center at 1403 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

Among those participating will be Kendell Poole, director of the Tennessee Governor’s Highway Safety Office, and members of the Tennessee Highway Patrol, as well as representatives of the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, and Oak Ridge, Clinton, Norris, and Rocky Top police departments.

“There have been 16 traffic fatalities in Anderson County in 2014, which represents a 77 percent increase compared to 2013,” a press release said. “This is the third highest year-to-date difference in fatalities that an individual county has seen in Tennessee. Seventy-five percent of the fatalities were unrestrained. In an effort to prevent additional fatalities and injuries, Anderson County agencies will be increasing enforcement and conducting sobriety checkpoints and saturation patrols.” [Read more…]

Guest column: Anderson communications center very busy during Tuesday storm

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Anderson County Commission and Mark Lucas

Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Mark Lucas is pictured above at right during a special County Commission meeting in November. Also pictured are Anderson County Commissioners Rick Meredith, center, and Jerry White.

To All:

(Tuesday) evening was very, very busy. From 3 p.m. until 11 p.m., our communications center received 589 telephone calls, of which 143 were on 911. The overwhelming number of calls were between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., when 365 calls came to our dispatch center. Of these 365 calls, 109 were on 911.

Comparing to last Tuesday from 3 p.m. until 11 p.m., we received 156 total telephone calls, of which 20 were on 911. The two-hour period from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. last week was only 41 total calls, of which five were on 911.

For the entire shift from 3 p.m. until 11 p.m., that was a 288 percent increase. For the two hours from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m., the increase was 790 percent.

We had four communications officers working (Tuesday) when the storm hit. A fifth came into work on her own to help out. Many of these 911 and non-emergency calls required dispatching of emergency personnel from law enforcement, fire, or EMS. Others required notifications to the state and county highway departments and the utility companies. It was non-stop for hours. [Read more…]

DA: Crime rate in Anderson County drops seven consecutive years

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Dave Clark

Dave Clark

The crime rate in Anderson County has dropped for seven consecutive years, District Attorney General Dave Clark said.

Crime in Anderson County was down by 10.1 percent in 2013, according to Tennessee Bureau of Investigation numbers, Clark said in a recent press release. Crime in the county is down by more than 37 percent in the past seven years, he said.

“There are thousands of fewer crimes in Anderson County now, as compared to 2007,” Clark said.

“This is great news for the people of Anderson County because we are safer from crime and can enjoy the benefits of having a crime rate that is below average for the state,” Clark said. “This is also great news for recruiting good industry and retail jobs to Anderson County and a variety of other benefits. [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…]

NNSA celebrates five years of radiological alarm response training

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Last week was the fifth anniversary of the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration’s Alarm Response Training program for local law enforcement and other critical first responders around the country. In the five years of providing this course, NNSA has trained more than 3,000 on-site radiation safety and security personnel, local law enforcement officers, and other first responders on how to respond to a security incident involving nuclear or radiological materials, a press release said.

“One of the greatest threats to national and global security is the danger of nuclear and radiological terrorism, and the Alarm Response Training program directly addresses this threat,” said NNSA Deputy Administrator for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation Anne Harrington. “We recognize that reducing the risk of radiological or nuclear terrorism requires a whole-of-community approach that brings together officials and responders from the federal, state, local, and facility levels. NNSA is able to utilize its unique expertise and technical resources to partner with local communities and other agencies to make our cities safer here and around the world.” [Read more…]

Letter: Citizens Police Academy teaches about protecting, serving

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To the Editor:

The Oak Ridge Police Department has recently announced that it is in the process of recruiting for the 2014 class of the Citizens’ Police Academy. As a graduate of the 2013 class, please allow me to warn prospective applicants what they are in for if they are selected.

You are going to work your butt off. You will not be spending time listening to boring lectures. You will get your hands dirty in various activities from lab work that will make you think you could be a member of C.S.I. to standing on the firing range under a beautiful star-lit sky aiming a Glock service revolver at a target and squeezing the trigger.

You are going to be inundated with paperwork. The realm of research would call it primary source documents from judges, various section heads, representatives of community groups that interact with local law enforcement, and contacts from federal agencies. Trust me, no stone will go unturned. [Read more…]

Sen. Alexander’s chief of staff placed on leave during child pornography investigation

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Note: This story was last updated at 12:52 p.m.

U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander on Wednesday said his chief of staff in Washington, D.C., has been placed on leave as law enforcement agents search the man’s home to investigate child pornography allegations.

“I was just informed by the United States Senate legal counsel’s office that law enforcement agents are conducting a search of the personal residence of Ryan Loskarn, the chief of staff of my Washington, D.C., office, regarding allegations involving child pornography,” Alexander said in a Wednesday morning statement. “I am stunned, surprised, and disappointed by what I have learned. Based on this information, I immediately placed Mr. Loskarn on administrative leave without pay. The office is fully cooperating with the investigation.”

U.S. Postal Inspectors conducted the raid of Loskarn’s home, according to NBC News.

“The Postal Inspectors Service was involved in a law enforcement action in Southeast D.C.,” a spokesman for the agency told NBC News, declining further comment.

Loskarn is a longtime Alexander aide and was named the Tennessee Republican senator’s chief of staff in 2012, according to Politico. [Read more…]