The Municipal Technical Advisory Service at the University of Tennessee presented its report on the six-month review of the Oak Ridge Police Department in a 20-page report presented to the Oak Ridge City Council in a special work session on Thursday. See a copy of the MTAS report here.
Council to hear results of ORPD review during special meeting Thursday
The Oak Ridge City Council is pictured above during a meeting on July 27, 2015. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
The Oak Ridge City Council will hear the results of the six-month review of the Oak Ridge Police Department during a special meeting on Thursday, October 15.
The special work session—work sessions are non-voting meetings—will feature a presentation by the Municipal Technical Advisory Service at the University of Tennessee, which was hired to conduct the review in March. The review was expected to focus on turnover, morale, and administrative policies.
The work session, which was called by Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch and City Manager Mark Watson, is scheduled from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday in the Municipal Building Courtroom at 200 South Tulane Avenue.
MTAS will present the conclusions of its review of the Oak Ridge Police Department. Also, MTAS will submit their final report of the review to the City Council. [Read more…]
Council approves $22K ORPD review, could be complete in October
Note: This story was last updated at 9:58 a.m. May 22.
The Oak Ridge City Council on Thursday approved a review of turnover and morale in the Oak Ridge Police Department that could cost close to $23,000 and not be complete until October.
The review by the Municipal Technical Advisory Service at the University of Tennessee could include interviews with about 125 people, including roughly 76 current ORPD employees as well as several dozen former workers who have left in the roughly four years since Oak Ridge Police Chief Jim Akagi started.
The review, which will also study administrative policies, was initially expected to be free, last 30 days, and use interviews with a random pool of workers. But the City Council expanded the scope of the inquiry during a special meeting in April, and MTAS said it would now have to charge $50 per hour for the work.
Each of the MTAS interviews could take about one hour, city officials said during a special Oak Ridge City Council meeting on Thursday. [Read more…]
MTAS review of ORPD could cost $26,200
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…]
MTAS seeks more info on ORPD review, could charge city $50 per hour
The University of Tennessee agency asked to review the Oak Ridge Police Department has questions about the expanded scope of the inquiry—it could now include all current employees and some former employees—and the Municipal Technical Advisory Service at UT could charge the city $50 per hour for its work on the project.
MTAS had initially proposed a free limited review of turnover, morale, and administrative policies in the Oak Ridge Police Department. That review, which would have interviewed a random sample or cross-section of ORPD employees, was approved by the Oak Ridge City Council during a March 27 special meeting.
But the City Council asked to start over 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.
During an April 21 special meeting, City Council agreed 5-2 to start over by asking MTAS to interview all employees and try to interview former employees who have left since Oak Ridge Police Chief Jim Akagi started on July 1, 2011. But that meant the city’s contract with MTAS, which had already started the initial review, had to be renegotiated. [Read more…]
ORPD review expanded to include all employees, some former workers
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…]
Council to consider restart on ORPD review during special meeting Tuesday
The Oak Ridge City Council will have a special meeting on Tuesday, April 21, to consider three recommendations related to the 30-day review of the Oak Ridge Police Department that was approved in March. (File photo)
A 30-day review of the Oak Ridge Police Department had barely gotten started before it came under fire. But the Oak Ridge City Council will try to fix that on Tuesday.
The concern centers on a report that the list of ORPD employees randomly selected for the first 20 interviews was sent to Oak Ridge Police Chief Jim Akagi and all Police Department employees, raising questions about the impartiality and anonymity of the review. The reviewer, Rex Barton of the Municipal Technical Advisory Service at the University of Tennessee, apparently sent the list to the police chief for scheduling purposes, seeking to minimize overtime and minimize stress on the officers’ off-duty life.
But those who have pressed for an investigation, including Oak Ridge City Council member Trina Baughn, quickly objected when they learned that the list of interviewees had been sent to the police chief, who has been the subject of much of their scrutiny.
So, in a special meeting Tuesday evening, the City Council will ask Barton, an MTAS police management consultant, to create a new, random list of officers to interview. Council will also consider determining a point of contact in the Oak Ridge Police Department who can help coordinate the schedules of officers participating in the interviews. [Read more…]
MTAS: ORPD review to be extensive, but not clear who will be interviewed
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…]
Council session: DOE landfill, Preschool, K-25 History Center, ORPD review
Agenda items for a Tuesday evening Oak Ridge City Council work session include a briefing on a proposed U.S. Department of Energy landfill, a proposed comment letter on the K-25 History Center at Fire Station Number Four in west Oak Ridge, and next steps on an independent review of turnover and morale in the Police Department.
Note: This work session has been canceled due to weather and will be rescheduled at a later date.
Agenda items for a Tuesday evening Oak Ridge City Council work session include a briefing on a proposed U.S. Department of Energy landfill, a proposed comment letter on the K-25 History Center at Fire Station Number Four in west Oak Ridge, and next steps on an independent review of turnover and morale in the Police Department.
The work session starts at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the Multipurpose Room of the Central Services Complex.
The proposed comment letter on the K-25 History Center could also address the proposed observation structure and grounds plan. [Read more…]
