South Pittsburg Police Chief Bobby SimpsonDECERTIFIED DEPARTMENTS
The following agencies are in Tennessee Incident-Based Reporting System noncompliance status: * Metro Hartsville/Trousdale County Sheriff's Office * Middleton Police Department * Oak Ridge Police Department * Pickett County Sheriff's Office * Smyrna Police Department * Somerville Police Department * South Pittsburg Police Department Source: Tennessee Bureau of Investigation TENNESSEE INCIDENT-BASED REPORTING The Tennessee Incident Based Reporting System program is designed to collect information on every crime and on each offense and arrest related to that crime. TIBRS collects information on 23 crime categories and 50 specific offenses.
SOUTH PITTSBURG, Tenn. -- The South Pittsburg police department could lose access to state grants after failing to meet state requirements for filing crime reports.
The department did not comply with Tennessee Bureau of Investigation reporting requirements, causing it to lose state certification for two years running and was noted for insufficient reporting in 2012, according to the Crime In Tennessee report released this week and previous TBI reports.
State law requires all law enforcement agencies to report crime statistics monthly to the TBI. Failure to do so can cost departments grants from state Office of Criminal Justice Programs, TBI officials said. The 2014 report was based on a snapshot this year of the TBI's database as of March 13, but does not reflect ongoing updates.
South Pittsburg Police Chief Bobby Simpson and City Administrator Sammy Burrows say they are not surprised by the reporting problems and the department is working to get back on track with requirements of the Tennessee Incident-Based Reporting System.
The department "came into noncompliance for failing to submit data in an acceptable manner," TBI spokeswoman Susan Niland said in an email about the report.
She said the city failed to respond to or correct problems found in November 2012, despite a deadline of February 2013.
South Pittsburg has had a spotty record for a decade -- good reports from 2008-11, insufficient reporting for 2004 and 2007 and compliant in 2005 and 2006. Agencies may update past-year data to reach compliance.
The most recent shortcomings, beginning in 2012 and continuing through 2014, include a period when a rift developed between police and city officials after Burrows' November 2013 arrest by town police.
Burrows was charged with obstruction of officer rights, resisting arrest, speeding and reckless driving and was given pretrial diversion, which allows charges eventually to be expunged. The arresting officer was fired.
During the same period, turnover cost the department some officers and in January it lost its police chief, Dale Winters, and another officer. In February, Simpson, a retired 28-year veteran of the Chattanooga Police Department, took the job.
Burrows said Wednesday he wants to look beyond the department's past to gain "something positive out of a negative situation." He said the reporting issues are among several changes in police operations, starting with its evidence room.
Simpson will lead the overhaul, with the goal of improving accountability and record keeping.
"I saw no standards whatsoever when I got here," Simpson said.
He also is working closely with state reporting officials to make sure requirements for 2012, 2013 and 2014 are met.
A decertified department can regain certification if problems are corrected, back-data is submitted and the agency submits three consecutive months of previously unsubmitted data with an error rate of less than 4 percent, Niland said.
Contact staff writer Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or twitter.com/BenBenton or www.facebook.com/ben.benton1 or 423-757-6569.