A Whitwell, Tennessee, police officer was fired after an internal investigation found he drove his patrol car to Hamilton County and used his badge and a lie to get into Parkridge East Hospital to track down a woman working there.
Tanner Reed Jackson, 23, was terminated from the Whitwell Police Department on July 26, according to Whitwell personnel records provided in a public records request fulfilled by Whitwell Police Chief David Boyd.
Jackson was fired for “actions unbecoming of a police officer and unauthorized use of a city vehicle,” Boyd wrote in a termination report based on an investigation conducted in East Ridge on a call categorized as possible stalking.
Phone numbers belonging to Jackson were redacted from personnel records obtained in the public records request, and no other means of reaching him for comment could be found. Jackson’s departmental email was not working Wednesday.
“A report was made through East Ridge Police listing Tanner Jackson as a suspect,” Boyd said in the termination report of Jackson’s visit to Parkridge East. “Tanner Jackson used his patrol car to drive to the hospital and lied to security, and said he was there to assist medical personnel with a certificate of need. Tanner Jackson searched the entire hospital looking for the female who is employed by Parkridge East.”
After Jackson found the woman, he returned to his patrol car to wait for her, the termination report said. The woman was afraid and asked a co-worker to move her car to another location, and Jackson followed the car but then left. The woman made a police report on the incident.
According to an East Ridge Police Department report contained in personnel records, Jackson gave the woman a candy bar when he initially found her at the hospital, but he didn’t mention the certificate of need. After her car was moved, Jackson messaged the woman asking if she had given someone her keys. A supplement report said Jackson told authorities he was off-duty, working at a nearby apartment complex and decided to surprise the woman at the hospital with a candy bar. Jackson told the investigating East Ridge officer he met the woman through dating apps. No charges were filed.
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Jackson had some trouble a few weeks earlier, too.
Boyd suspended Jackson for five days without pay in an incident in June involving underage girls while he was helping out a neighboring agency, according to personnel records.
“On June 8, 2024, in New Hope, Tennessee, while Officer Jackson was working part time for New Hope Police Department, (he) had a group of underage girls in his car driving emergency traffic,” Boyd states in an employee notice of discipline.
“Emergency traffic” refers to a police vehicle using its blue lights and siren when responding to a call.
Jackson obtained his Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission certification, required to work in Tennessee as a law enforcement officer, as well as a dozen other related certifications, records show. Jackson was also honorably discharged from the U.S. Army National Guard in 2020 and received military police training during his service. Jackson previously worked for the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office in 2021 and 2022 and was a security officer for Walden Security from 2019 to 2021, records show. There were no reports of any other disciplinary actions.
Whitwell Police Department / Former Whitwell Police Officer Tanner Jackson, 23, was terminated following an internal investigation into an incident in East Ridge.Contact Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569.