Note: This story was updated on Aug. 25 to correct the spelling of the communications director's name.
Chattanooga police union leaders have reached a resolution with Mayor Tim Kelly and Police Chief Celeste Murphy following the announcement of 10 officers being reassigned away from enforcement duties as a result of past allegations of untruthfulness or misrepresentations. Also, the city identified five more such officers.
"As part of the review process, each affected officer's assignment will be evaluated by an internal committee made up of sworn officers of diverse ranks and roles," Kirsten Yates, the communications director for the city, said in a Wednesday news release. "They are expected to include factors such as age of the violation, severity of the violation, disciplinary record since the violation and the circumstances of the violation as determined by internal affairs."
Last week, Murphy announced that 10 officers were removed from enforcement duties following a request made by a representative of the Eastern District U.S. Attorney's Office for a list of officers who had sustained allegations of being untruthful or had misrepresented the truth.
More recently, the city changed how it catalogs such cases and identified five more officers who have sustained such allegations.
"I fully support Chief Murphy's decision to ensure the Chattanooga Police Department leads with integrity. I chose her for our police chief because she committed to me from the earliest part in the hiring process that she was going to set a high bar for professional standards in our department," Kelly said in the Wednesday release. "I also believe that we can make tough decisions that protect public safety and include trusted employee groups. I'm grateful that we were able to work together to create a productive path forward for the department and the officers involved."
According to Yates, once the evaluation of the officers is complete, they will either be permanently kept in their nonenforcement positions; have their enforcement duties restored with "special accommodations," such as wearing body-worn cameras at additional times or teaming up with a partner during patrol; or being restored to their previous law enforcement duties without the special accommodations.
In the statement announcing the move, Murphy said members of the public and criminal justice system should have full confidence that officers who investigate crimes, apprehend suspects and testify in court do so with the highest standards of integrity.
"This process will apply to all sworn officers who have had a sustained internal policy violation of being less than truthful prior to Aug. 16, 2022 -- a total of 15 officers, based on CPD's final database audit of personnel records," Yates said.
Although Murphy said the officers were not demoted or fired in a follow-up news release two days after the original announcement of the reassignments, two unions spoke out against the department's decision, calling the reassignments a violation of the officers' due process rights.
"This is not a decision I made lightly, and I know these changes have been extremely impactful to our department, which is why collaborating to find meaningful resolutions is so important," Murphy said in the Wednesday release. "I'm dedicated to upholding the department's integrity in the eyes of the public, the eyes of our courts and in the eyes of the brave men and women who selflessly serve their community."
The proposed committee members who will review the personnel files of the affected officers are still being finalized, and the final outcome for officers will be up to Murphy, according to Yates.
Should the officers remain in their nonenforcement duties, they are no longer eligible to certify for promotions within the department, although they retain their salaries, according to Vincent L. Champion, the southeast regional director of the International Brotherhood of Police Officers.
Contact La Shawn Pagán at lpagan@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6476. Follow her on Twitter @LaShawnPagan.