One Chattanooga police officer was fired and another resigned Monday ahead of a disciplinary hearing meant to address charges of criminal activity.
Detective David Catchings Jr. was terminated from the Chattanooga Police Department on Monday after he was charged with driving under the influence and domestic assault in two separate incidents in 2014 and early 2015.
A Chattanooga police major crimes detective was arrested Wednesday morning his second arrest in four months. David Catchings, 34, has been charged with domestic assault after allegedly striking his mother-in-law in the face. Catchings is already under investigation and on administrative leave from the police department after he was arrested in September for driving under the influence. Plus, between Karl Fields and Catchings' absences, the CPD major crimes division is shorthanded.
Kevin Kincer"We have little to no tolerance for these offenses," police Chief Fred Fletcher said.
Kevin Kincer, a former Chattanooga police sergeant, pleaded no contest to six charges of official misconduct and theft in November after pills went missing from the evidence room Kincer was supposed to be monitoring.
He was put on leave without pay while the allegations worked through the court system. On Monday, he resigned ahead of a disciplinary hearing that would have followed the same procedure as Catchings', Fletcher said. Fletcher sustained violations against Kincer including conduct unbecoming, conformance to law, improper procedures involving property, and ethics violations.
"Those violations likely would have resulted in termination had he not resigned and had he had a hearing, barring extenuating circumstances," Fletcher said.
Fletcher will request both Catchings and Kincer be decertified as Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission qualified police officers, a certification granted by the state of Tennessee.
Catchings was arrested twice in 2014 while he was working as a major crimes detective. He was first arrested in September and charged with DUI after a witness called police because Catchings was weaving dangerously through traffic.
When the officer pulled Catchings over, the 35-year-old's speech was slurred and he didn't know where he was going. The car was filled with empty beer bottles.
Catchings was arrested again on New Year's Eve after he allegedly got into a fight with his mother-in-law and struck her in the face.
He is out on bond for his criminal charges, but was recently taken to task by Hamilton County General Sessions Court Judge Gary Starnes for failing to attended a court-mandated alcoholic treatment program.
Catchings is one of three Chattanooga police investigators accused of improper behavior during the last six months. Days before Catchings was arrested on the DUI charge, another major crimes detective, Karl Fields, was accused of sending inappropriate texts to a woman whose rape case he was investigating.
And on March 5, a third investigator, Iran Meadows, was accused of hosting a party at the local Fraternal Order of Police lodge that was attended by well-known gang members.
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What is decertification?
As opposed to termination of employment by a local department, which does not prevent the officer from being rehired by a different department, revocation of the certificate prevents the officer from continuing to serve in law enforcement in the state. A state agency, Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission (POST), has the authority to hold hearings and impose sanctions against police officers that have engaged in serious misconduct as defined in the statute or regulation. Known as revocation, decertification or cancellation, this practice ensures officers cannot continue to serve as law enforcement officers in the state by suspending or removing state certification.