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MTAS review of ORPD could cost $26,200

Posted at 11:19 am May 20, 2015
By John Huotari 7 Comments

Oak Ridge Police Department Cars

Note: This story was last updated at 12:08 p.m.

A review of the Oak Ridge Police Department by a University of Tennessee agency could cost $26,200.

The Oak Ridge City Council has asked the Municipal Technical Advisory Service at UT to review the ORPD, with a particular focus on turnover, morale, and administrative policies.

The initial 30-day review approved during a March 27 special meeting was going to be free. But an uproar ensued after the initial list of employees to be interviewed was sent to the police chief, city manager, and all Police Department employees, raising concerns about the confidentiality and impartiality of the review.

The City Council then expanded the scope of the inquiry. During an April 21 special meeting, members asked MTAS to interview all ORPD employees and try to interview former workers who have left in the roughly four years since Oak Ridge Police Chief Jim Akagi started. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Government, Meetings and Events, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge, Police and Fire, Top Stories Tagged With: administrative policies, interviews, Jim Akagi, Jim Thomas, morale, MTAS, MTAS review, Municipal Technical Advisory Service, Oak Ridge City Council, Oak Ridge Personnel Department, Oak Ridge Police Department, ORPD, ORPD review, request for qualifications, review, RFQ, special meeting, Trina Baughn, turnover, Warren Gooch

ORPD review expanded to include all employees, some former workers

Posted at 11:18 am April 23, 2015
By John Huotari 18 Comments

Oak Ridge Police Department Cars

But MTAS will have to agree to changes

The review of the Oak Ridge Police Department has been expanded to include interviews with all employees. The review could also include interviews with former employees who have left the Police Department since Police Chief Jim Akagi started almost four years ago.

Initial plans had called for a limited review of the Oak Ridge Police Department and interviews of a random sample or cross-section of employees.

But the Oak Ridge City Council expanded the review during a special meeting on Tuesday. That special meeting was called after concerns were raised about the initial list of randomly selected interviewees being sent to the police chief, city manager, and all Police Department employees, which raised questions about the impartiality and confidentiality of the review.

By one estimate, the expanded review could include interviews with more than 100 people. And it’s not clear if the Municipal Technical Advisory Service at the University of Tennessee will agree to the expanded review, or if they might charge the city.

The City Council agreed to expand the review during a three-hour special meeting on Tuesday that included criticism of MTAS, accusations of collusion between Council members, and an attempt by Council member Trina Baughn to have resident Joe Lee, one of her chief critics, stop taking pictures during a public comment session. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Government, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge, Police, Police and Fire, Slider, Top Stories Tagged With: administrative policies, Charlie Hensley, Chuck Hope, City Charter, David Beams, Ellen Smith, Jim Akagi, Joe Lee, John Criswell, Kelly Callison, Ken Krushenski, Margaret Norris, Mark Watson, morale, MTAS, MTAS review, Municipal Technical Advisory Service, Oak Ridge City Council, Oak Ridge Police Department, Open Records, ORPD, ORPD review, review, Rex Barton, Rick Chinn, Trina Baughn, turnover, University of Tennessee, Warren Gooch

MTAS: ORPD review to be extensive, but not clear who will be interviewed

Posted at 4:11 pm April 18, 2015
By John Huotari 21 Comments

Oak Ridge Police Department Review Protest

Protesters who want all officers to be able to speak to a consultant reviewing the Oak Ridge Police Department are pictured above outside the Oak Ridge Municipal Building before the Monday night City Council meeting.

 

Note: This story was last updated at 9:35 a.m. April 20.

The review of the Oak Ridge Police Department will be extensive, but it’s not clear yet who will be interviewed, an official said Friday.

The proposal submitted by the Municipal Technical Advisory Service and approved by the Oak Ridge City Council in March called for interviewing a randomly selected group of police department employees. It also called for interviewing other city employees and officers and possibly talking to community leaders not directly employed by the city.

But some have expressed concern that others who want to speak, including former officers and city residents, might not be able to under the limited 30-day review and random selection proposed by MTAS.

“These men deserve to be heard, all of them,” said Christen Thomas, wife of Oak Ridge Police Department Officer John Thomas.

The independent MTAS review will use Police Management Consultant Rex Barton, a former administrative captain for the Athens, Tennessee, Police Department. MTAS is part of the Institute for Public Service at the University of Tennessee. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Government, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge, Police and Fire, Top Stories Tagged With: Charlie Hensley, Christen Thomas, City of Oak Ridge, David Beams, grievance, Institute for Public Service, IPS, Jim Akagi, John Criswell, John Thomas, Kelly Callison, Kyle Scott, Margaret Norris, morale, MTAS, MTAS review, Municipal Technical Advisory Service, Oak Ridge City Council, Oak Ridge Municipal Building, Oak Ridge Police Department, ORPD, ORPD review, PAB, Personnel Advisory Board, Philip Nall, review, Rex Barton, Susan Robertson, Trina Baughn, turnover, University of Tennessee

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