Internal report
On the above date, I, Officer ****, was working in Booking when Whitfield Co. Deputy, ****, came in to wait on inmate, ****, for transport.Deputy **** asked me about the line of cars outside, as he was in line for a long time himself, even called me once to state he would return tomorrow, but then called back to say his Lt. asked him to go ahead and stay today. He then stated that while he was in his car waiting, a couple of CPD Officers came over to his car and were stating there was a feud going on with the County. I stated all I knew was maybe it was from our Medical Dept refusing two of the City’s arrestees the night before. Deputy **** was very respectful in that he did not think that was right and he knew we were slammed here in Booking. I reported this information on to Lt. ****Note: Names deleted to protect privacy
The boys in blue got pretty red during a spat over arrests in Cleveland, Tenn., this week.
The squabble involving the city police department and Bradley County Jail included a pair of drunks denied entry to the jail and "unarrested" at the local hospital, and several police cars idling in the jail driveway while prisoners locked in the back awaited their turn in the booking room.
The rough outlines of the fracas went like this, according to several sources: Wednesday night, some Cleveland officers brought two men, so drunk they couldn't walk, to the jail for booking on public intoxication charges.
Bradley County Sheriff's Office spokesman James E. Bradford Jr. said the medical person on duty said both needed to be taken to the hospital for treatment of their intoxication before they could be jailed.
Cleveland Chief Mark Gibson said hospital personnel told his officers the men couldn't be seen for six hours. So, rather than be off the road that long, the officers released the drunks to the hospital and went back on patrol, he said.
Gibson didn't say what authority would have allowed the officers to release the men before they were booked or given bonds or whether the hospital could actually accept them. He said the officers came back to the hospital later with warrants for the pair, but Bradford said they weren't brought back to the jail Wednesday and it wasn't clear if they were ever taken back into custody.
The jail's refusal to let the drunks in Wednesday left the Cleveland officers hot, said a law enforcement source with knowledge of the situation who asked to remain anonymous. They also might have been irritated because the city, rather than the county, would be stuck with the men's hospital bill, the source said.
"The city got mad and flipped out," the source said. "Last night [Thursday] they decided to arrest everybody they could just to cause the jail issues."
An internal report obtained by the Times Free Press contains a complaint by a Whitfield County, Ga., officer substantiating the allegation. The deputy said while he was waiting to pick up a prisoner, "a couple of CPD Officers came over to his car and were stating there was a feud going on with the County," the report stated.
Bradford said 14 people were brought in between 5 p.m. Thursday and 3 a.m. Friday, a "substantial increase" over the usual workload. That wait, combined with shift change and other duties, "led to longer wait times to get arrestees through the intake process," he said.
According to Gibson, "we had officers in line waiting for over two hours to book prisoners in." He also said one officer waited 45 minutes in the sally port - the secure entry to the jail - to be let out after dropping off a prisoner.
Gibson didn't dispute the account of the how the spat started, acknowledging jail officers' refusal to book the two drunks "probably escalated tensions."
Bradford's statement didn't mention the wait in the sally port and he said he didn't know of anyone waiting longer than an hour to get their prisoners booked.
By Friday afternoon the "thin blue line" was back intact, if a little frayed. Gibson said he had met with his staff earlier in the day to get to the bottom of the flap. Later in the afternoon, Bradford said in his statement the two departments were talking.
"Chief Deputy Brian Smith and Chief of Police Mark Gibson have been communicating regarding the intake process delays which took place in the last 24 hours," Bradford said.
"I'm not aware of any ongoing issues because of the delays, and our agency has a great relationship with the Cleveland Police Department."
Contact staff writer Judy Walton at jwalton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6416.