The International Brotherhood of Police Officers has issued a scathing rebuke of Hamilton County District Attorney General Neal Pinkston as he enters the final weeks of his primary election campaign against challenger Coty Wamp.
“Very rarely, on a national and local level, does the IBPO see such a drastic lack of faith in an individual’s ability to hold an office,” said a statement signed by Vince Champion, the IBPO’s regional director.
The organization accused Pinkston of misleading voters with statements that he had received support from the law enforcement community despite not earning the union’s endorsement, while calling him to task for what it said was a “significant increase” in crime under his watch and also accusing him of nepotism and harassment.
“It is the opinion of the regional office that this statement is necessary to preserve the integrity of the IBPO Local #673 membership,” Champion said in the statement.
Voters are set to choose between Pinkston and Wamp in the May 3 Primary Election.
Pinkston’s campaign said Friday afternoon the brotherhood’s statement was not representative of his daily interactions with law enforcement officers.
“General Pinkston’s position has never been that he had the support of the union,” Pinkston’s campaign spokesperson Amanda Morrison said Friday in a telephone interview. “What Neal Pinkston has said throughout his campaign upon finding out that he did not receive the endorsement from the union, was that if anyone talked with the officers or detectives that we worked with, that they know they have the support of the district attorney’s office.”
She said those relationships were developed on a basis of mutual respect and support.
In its statement, the police union cited a Jan. 24 Times Free Press story about remarks Pinkston made at a Hamilton County Pachyderm Club meeting and comments made during a Republican Women’s forum.
“From what we’ve gathered from questions received from community members and from our personnel, these statements have been made approximately five times at different campaign meetings,” brotherhood member Mike Korter said Friday in an email.
In the statement, Champion said the organization polled its 400 members before making an endorsement in the race.
“When the question of endorsing a candidate for district attorney came out, a poll was sent to the entire membership group. Out of that poll, Neal Pinkston received six votes for endorsement. There were eight votes to not endorse any person. The remainder of the votes went to Coty Wamp,” Champion said in the statement.
Wamp received 104 votes, he said later in a phone call.
The statement named the Fraternal Order of Police and Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Hammond among Wamp’s supporters.
(READ MORE: Hamilton County officials don’t see issues with hiring qualified family members)
“The IBPO would prefer to work with our elected officials to solve problems in our communities and foster a cooperative environment as opposed to fight on issues,” Champion said. “But as the deputies and police officers of Hamilton County have a duty to protect the citizens of the county, the IBPO has a duty to protect its members when they are in the right.”
The statement cites three main issues the brotherhood has with Pinkston: crime, nepotism and harassment.
Champion said under Pinkston’s watch the severity of crimes and the number of repeat offenders experienced surprising growth in Hamilton County.
“Very public incidents such as daytime shootings at our malls, increased violence in our schools and a blatant disregard for the safety of our communities has seen a significant increase while Neal Pinkston has been in office,” Champion said.
He contends Pinkston has done little to curb crime trends, has been absent from sheriff’s office job fairs and training meetings for inmates, hasn’t attended drug education and reform efforts to improve community safety and criticized the length of time cases take to go to trial.
Champion gives the example of a 2016 murder case in which the defendant was found not guilty after waiting six years for his case to be adjudicated.
Champion also said “the issue of Neal Pinkston’s wife and brother-in-law working for him has been an issue of concern. Not only does it give the appearance of ’empire building,’ but it has led to the unauthorized release of information about investigations, and is against the law.”
Investigators for the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office found that Pinkston was violating state nepotism law by employing his wife and her brother. Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery said he agreed with the comptroller’s determination.
Champion said the fact that Pinkston’s wife, current chief of staff Melydia Clewell, is still working for Pinkston’s office is cause for concern in the law enforcement community.
“Officers are also concerned that an official that is responsible for upholding law and order is still defying state law by keeping his wife on the payroll,” Champion said in the statement.
(READ MORE: Wamp receives police union endorsements as race heats up)
Champion’s statement accused Pinkston’s brother-in-law Kerry Clewell of “falsely charging a man for kidnapping his daughter in a botched investigation.”
Morrison said Champion’s comments mischaracterized the situation.
“While we won’t delve into each of the points Vince Champion has raised because most of these have been discussed ad nauseam in different debates, what is not accurate is him talking about a botched investigation in which someone was wrongfully charged in an investigation,” she said.
“It’s not a botched investigation or charge, what it is is there was an order from a circuit court judge that the father, John Westbrook, had a desire to kidnap his daughter and the grand jury was presented the facts of the case and they returned a true bill that charged John Westbrook with the kidnapping,” she said. “So to state there was a botched investigation is just not accurate.”
Champion under the heading, “harassment,” accused Pinkston of making statements that have troubled area law enforcement officers.
“‘Remember this isn’t a democracy but instead a benevolent dictatorship’ in communications from Neal Pinkston is not only concerning, but insulting to the people who are sworn to uphold the constitution of the United States of America on a daily basis,” Champion said, identifying the remark as a quote from Pinkston.
In her emailed response to the police union’s statement, Pinkston campaign spokesperson Morrison said Friday that the statement’s author is not from the area.
“Vince Champion is not an officer here in Hamilton County or with the Chattanooga Police Department. He’s from Atlanta and he doesn’t have a working relationship with the district attorney’s office here in Hamilton County,” Morrison said. “While this is his opinion and this may be the opinion of a union, it does not represent what Neal has been told by a number of officers he works with on a day-to-day basis.”
Morrison said the brotherhood’s statement sounds familiar.
“What [is] included within the statement is the same thing that has been used by Neal’s opponent throughout her campaign,” she said. “There have been a number of debates that Vince Champion never attended where a lot of this has been addressed and we have no further statements on their three points.”
Also Friday, Hamilton County Commissioner Tim Boyd took his own shots at the embattled DA.
“Neal Pinkston has single-handedly destroyed the integrity of the DA’s office and while doing so has created a toxic work environment under his eight years of leadership,” Boyd said in an email regarding the Greater Chattanooga Realtors’ endorsement of Pinkston. “When the members of the IBPO were recently asked to vote for Ms. Wamp or Pinkston for DA, the vote was 97% for Ms. Wamp.”
Boyd was the first person to make an issue of Pinkston’s hiring of family members and has been a frequent critic of the district attorney. Pinkston has said he believes Boyd seeks retaliation after prosecutors claimed Boyd tried to threaten a political rival with the release of damaging information if the person did not withdraw, charges that were dismissed.
Contact Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569. Follow him on Twitter @BenBenton.