A 23-year veteran of the Chattanooga Police Department was fired last month after an internal investigation revealed he'd been working at another job while on the clock at the police department, creating a conflict of interest for at least six criminal cases, and using his police vehicle to visit a girlfriend, whom he was hiding from his wife.
Former Lt. Shawn Hickey was found to be working at Moccasin Bend Mental Health Institute as a psychiatric social worker while working at the police department. He provided counseling to at least six patients who had been criminally charged by Chattanooga police, according to an internal affairs report, something that created an "irreconcilable" conflict of interest with the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and the police department. The conflict had to be disclosed to the Hamilton County district attorney and Gov. Bill Lee's office.
District Attorney Neal Pinkston's office did not respond to a request to confirm whether he had been made aware of the state's investigation, and neither did Lee's office.
Shawn Hickey / Contributed photo from Chattanooga Police Department"Unfortunately, a ranking member of the department received sustained allegations of misconduct," Chattanooga police spokeswoman Elisa Myzal said. "His investigation and subsequent discipline were handled as it would be for any other officer in the Chattanooga Police Department."
Reached by phone Tuesday, Hickey declined to comment.
Back in January, all police department lieutenants were scheduled for mandated in-service training. But Hickey was noticeably absent for most of the training. Several lieutenants noticed he would arrive late, sign the roster and then leave for the rest of the day.
Lt. Anthony Easter, who is the director of training and was questioned by internal affairs investigators, said lieutenants were questioning why Hickey was not required to attend the training and why he was allowed to sign the rosters after the classes had ended.
At one point, someone in the department's training division told Easter that Hickey had gone to the office and demanded to see the rosters from the previous day so that he could sign them.
Hickey was placed on administrative leave with pay on Aug. 29 while the internal investigation got underway. Officers are not permitted to present themselves as law enforcement while on leave. But in October, Hickey was interviewed by the Times Free Press and represented himself as a police officer.
During the investigation, Hickey was asked about his training attendance, and he told investigators he didn't remember whether he left during in-service. He did admit to leaving during at least one class, but said he didn't remember why.
He also acknowledged having an extra job as a social worker at Moccasin Bend, and that he worked there "almost every day except for the weekend." But he was "pretty sure" he took time off from that job to attend the in-service training.
Hickey's captain, Roger Gibbens, was aware of Hickey's extra employment, but Hickey had assured him and Assistant Chief Glenn Scruggs that it was only on a part-time basis and would not interfere with his responsibilities at the police department. Some of Hickey's subordinates had reported being unable to reach him and had to get in touch with Gibbens instead.
As the investigation continued, the department discovered Hickey was in fact working as a full-time social worker and that he worked 37.5 hours the week of the police department's in-service training.
Hickey was ultimately fired from Moccasin Bend in August after the state Department of Mental Health completed its own internal investigation and found a "conflict of interest they were not initially made aware of regarding Lt. Hickey's employment at the Chattanooga Police Department" and that there was no agreement on the flexibility of his hours.
The state also informed the police department of the six cases in which Hickey provided counseling services to incarcerated or criminally charged patients, and that he did not disclose his position at the police department to those patients.
Because Hickey worked for the police department, it "created a severe, irreconcilable, explicit, and actual conflict of interest related to patient services as well as to the Chattanooga Police Department," the internal affairs report states.
Another violation investigators found was that Hickey drove his city-issued vehicle to Moccasin Bend, according to his vehicle's GPS records. The records also showed he drove his police vehicle to several locations where the vehicle was often parked for long periods of time or overnight.
Some instances showed Hickey's police vehicle at a specific address that was not his home address for overnight stays.
"He immediately without hesitation stated his girlfriend lives there," the report states, adding that Hickey described the relationship as "great friends who travel together," but that he was trying to conceal the relationship from his wife.
In another instance, Hickey drove his police vehicle to South Pittsburg, Tennessee. He told investigators he had gone to look at a truck.
By the end of his second interview, Hickey told investigators, "'OK you caught me,' further stating if he lied to Internal Affairs "it wasn't on purpose."
Hickey was ultimately fired on Nov. 15.
In 2006, Hickey was demoted from lieutenant to sergeant and suspended for 28 days after an internal investigation found he had sexually harassed a female subordinate. The suspension was later overturned by a panel of Chattanooga City Council members, who at the time were in charge of police disciplinary appeals.
Contact Rosana Hughes at rhughes@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6327 with tips or story ideas. Follow her on Twitter @HughesRosana.