Oak Ridge Today

Two more Council members object to process used by Baughn

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Chuck Hope

Chuck Hope

Kelly Callison

Kelly Callison

Two more Oak Ridge City Council members last week expressed regret about the process that was used by fellow Council member Trina Baughn to raise concerns about the Police Department and its chief.

Council members Kelly Callison and Chuck Hope said that Baughn could have first brought the issues regarding the Police Department and Police Chief Jim Akagi to the City Council in a work session or special meeting. That would have allowed all seven Council members to hear the information and work together to determine any next steps, they said.

But instead, Callison said, the issue was sent in parallel to City Council and the media, which bothers him.

“I feel that the process that she’s using is wrong,” Hope said. “It’s kind of circumvented the process. It’s all out there, across the press and across the social media.” [Read more…]

15 percent turnover not necessarily cause for alarm, UT professor says

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Terry Leap

Terry Leap

One of the initial concerns raised about the Oak Ridge Police Department last month was whether the turnover rate was high.

Oak Ridge City Council member Trina Baughn said she had calculated a 15 percent annual turnover rate in the 3.5 years that Police Chief Jim Akagi has led the department. That compares to a reported turnover rate of only 2.9 percent for the Knoxville Police Department, Baughn said.

“I’m sure you agree that having a turnover rate five times that of our neighbor demands further scrutiny,” Baughn told City Manager Mark Watson in a January 25 email.

But Oak Ridge municipal officials said they don’t think the turnover rate is significantly out of line with what it has been previously. Watson said an average of 7.25 employees per year have left in the last four years due to resignations, retirements, or being asked to leave.

Last week, a University of Tennessee professor suggested that a 15 percent turnover rate, by itself, might not be a cause for concern. [Read more…]

Former officers ask for investigation, hearing of officers’ concerns

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Oak Ridge City Council November 2014

Four former Oak Ridge police officers have asked the City Council to investigate some of the concerns recently raised about the Police Department and its chief, or to hear the concerns of officers. The City Council will consider what to do next during its regular meeting on Monday. Pictured above from right in November 2014 are Kelly Callison, Charlie Hensley, Rick Chinn, Mayor Warren Gooch, Chuck Hope, Trina Baughn, and Mayor Pro Tem Ellen Smith. (File photo)

 

Four former Oak Ridge police officers have asked the City Council to investigate some of the concerns recently raised about the Police Department and its chief, or to hear the concerns of officers.

The officers were responding to recent news reports about the police department and concerns raised about its turnover rate, as well as alleged policy violations included in a mid-January grievance filed by former Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Christopher Bayless. A few also cited letters written to the media by former Police Chief David Beams and former Lieutenant Jack Mansfield.

The officers expressed a range of concerns that include the alleged policy violations by Police Chief Jim Akagi and a Blount County order of protection in effect from April 2012 to June 2013, questions about the turnover rate and the chief’s leadership, and decisions about promotions, spending, and weapons. [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…]

Baughn asks for investigation of police chief; Hensley seeks reprimand of Baughn

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Trina Baughn

Trina Baughn

Charlie Hensley

Charlie Hensley

Note: This story was updated at 7:08 p.m.

On one hand is Oak Ridge City Council member Trina Baughn. She’s called for an investigation of the police chief.

On the other is City Council member Charlie Hensley. He wants the seven-member Council to reprimand Baughn.

It’s not clear which side, if either, will prevail during the Monday night meeting of the Oak Ridge City Council.

The two Council members, who have a strained relationship, have dueling resolutions that could be considered on Monday. Either one would require a second from another Council member to be discussed and four votes to be approved.

Both resolutions follow more than one week of accusations and allegations that have roiled and divided the community. They have focused, in particular, on the management of the Oak Ridge Police Department by Chief Jim Akagi and raised questions about the turnover rate and whether it is high. Some of the most blistering criticisms have come from former Oak Ridge Police Chief David Beams, who said he still visits the city. [Read more…]

Letter: Thanks ORPD for armed intruder training at Roane State

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To the Editor:

I would like to thank the Oak Ridge Police Department for the outstanding training they recently provided to Roane State Community College faculty and staff. The topic was encountering an armed intruder. Working with the college’s police department, the Oak Ridge Police Department organized a full day of intense, hands-on, practical training for approximately 100 faculty and staff members.

The department was a wonderful partner, committed to making sure the training ran smoothly. The officers who led the activities were excellent teachers—professional, enthusiastic, and caring. Our faculty and staff learned a great deal.

Safety is Roane State’s top concern. Thanks to the Oak Ridge Police Department, we are safer. On behalf of Roane State faculty and staff, thank you Oak Ridge Police Department for sharing your expertise with us.

Melinda Hillman

Vice President, Development and Community Relations

Roane State Community College

Akagi responds to criticism from former police chief

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James T. Akagi

James T. Akagi

Note: This story was updated at 8:20 p.m. Jan. 31.

Oak Ridge Police Chief Jim Akagi on Friday responded to a critical letter written by his predecessor, former Police Chief David Beams, and published in part in two local newspapers and elsewhere online.

Akagi said he was surprised by Beams’ comments and disagreed with them, but he would be willing to sit down with the former chief to discuss his grievances.

In his Wednesday letter, Beams, who retired in March 2011, several months before Akagi started, took issue with what he said was Akagi’s lack of experience as a municipal police chief; his “irrational, erratic, and vindictive” behavior (as reported to Beams by “countless officers and supervisors”); and his relations with the media, among other criticisms. Beams, who no longer lives in Oak Ridge, said Akagi “needs to go.”

Akagi said he was surprised and dismayed by the comments and how they were delivered. [Read more…]

Watson has confidence in police chief, no further investigation planned

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Mark Watson

Mark Watson

Note: This story was updated at 8:35 p.m. Jan. 31.

Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson on Thursday said he has “absolute confidence” in Police Chief Jim Akagi and has no plans to further investigate concerns raised this week by City Council member Trina Baughn.

Baughn raised concerns about the turnover rate in the Oak Ridge Police Department and claims made in a grievance filed by former officer Chris Bayless. In a Sunday email, Baughn said her calculations showed that the police force had lost 30 members in 3.5 years under Akagi, and that equates to 11.7 per year, or an estimated 15 percent turnover rate.

Baughn said some officers who have resigned felt “forced out,” while others who remain are “just counting the days” until they can leave.

“I believe that our turnover issues are not a reflection on the character of the majority of our men and women in blue; rather they are attributable to leadership,” Baughn said in an email to Watson and carbon-copied to Oak Ridge City Council members and reporters.

Trina Baughn

Trina Baughn

She said she is ready to help Watson “immediately address these problems and stabilize our police department.”

But city officials questioned Baughn’s numbers and said they don’t think the turnover rate is significantly out of line with what it has been previously. An average of 7.25 employees per year have left in the last four years due to resignations, retirements, or being asked to leave, Watson said Thursday.

“I don’t think it’s a significant change,” he said. [Read more…]

ORPD: Woman pointing handgun out door, pulling trigger as police arrive

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A woman who said she wanted to end her life was pointing a handgun out the doorway of an Orange Lane home and pulling the trigger as officers arrived on a welfare check Wednesday night, authorities said.

The Oak Ridge Police Department responded to the home at 8:01 p.m. Wednesday. They were dispatched to check the welfare of a resident who was reported to be intoxicated and attempting to commit suicide with a handgun.

“Upon arrival, Officers Derek Burchfield and Timothy Buckner observed a 64-year old female subject at the front door of the residence, pointing a handgun out the doorway and pulling the trigger,” the ORPD and City of Oak Ridge said in a press release. [Read more…]

ORPD: Charges pending against hit-and-run suspect

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Oak Ridge Police Department Logo

A suspect in a Friday night hit-and-run in Oak Ridge is in custody in Morgan County, and more charges are pending in Oak Ridge, authorities said.

The hit-and-run involving a pedestrian was reported at about 8:34 p.m. Friday at West Outer Drive and North Illinois Avenue, the Oak Ridge Police Department said. [Read more…]

Report: Man fires gun into ground during parking dispute

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Justin Kane Hornung

Justin Kane Hornung

An Oak Ridge man who allegedly fired a gun into the ground during a parking disturbance on Tucker Road on January 18 has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault.

Justin Kane Hornung, 37, told Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Christopher W. Wallace that he did not have space to park his vehicle on Tucker Road when he came home because guests of a neighbor had filled the on-street parking spaces, according to warrants filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court.

A discussion between Hornung and his neighbor about the parking situation reportedly escalated into a disturbance, and the victim allegedly told Hornung he was going to “kick his (expletive)” and yelled other obscenities, according to the warrants. [Read more…]

Warrants: Man armed with knife tried to kidnap two children

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Justin Len Williams

Justin Len Williams

An Oak Ridge man allegedly broke into a home this month, assaulted the mother of his children, threw a five-inch kitchen knife at a man at the home, and tried to kidnap two kids, authorities said.

Justin L. Williams, 23, is accused of going upstairs at the Knoll Lane home armed with a five-inch kitchen knife and confronting the woman in the hall, shoving her against a door and to the floor, and assaulting her again outside while taking her car keys to get child seats, according to arrest warrants filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court.

The woman, who had a laceration to her right big toe, reportedly called 911 on her cell phone during the assault at about 4:18 a.m. January 14, the warrants said. [Read more…]