Chief of Police Paul Noel announced the promotion of 20 Knoxville Police Department officers as well as a significant reorganization of the Department’s structure during a promotional ceremony held Monday evening at the Civic Coliseum Auditorium.
With these promotions, Chief Noel solidifies his Command Staff with the promotion of Susan Coker and David Powell to Deputy Chief. Coker is a 26-year veteran of the KPD who most recently served as a Patrol Captain over the East District. Powell is a 24-year veteran of the KPD who has spent the past 10 months as the Acting Deputy Chief over the Management Services Division.
“I had a lot of options to fill our two vacant Deputy Chief positions, and I went into that process with an open mind,” Noel said. “As I evaluated our organization over the past three months, it became apparent that there were many outstanding and talented leaders within this Department. Susan and David are two of those individuals. Both are greatly respected by their colleagues and have a track record of leading with integrity. I have no doubt that they will help push our organization forward.”
Lieutenants Nevin Long, Ryan Morrow, Sammy Shaffer and Steve Still were also selected for promotion to Captain and will join Chief Noel’s Command Staff. Long has been with the KPD since 2002 and was most recently the Lieutenant over the Special Crimes Unit. Morrow started with the KPD in 1996 and joins the Command Staff after serving as Lieutenant over the Violent Crime Unit. Shaffer is a nearly 21-year veteran of the KPD who most recently served as the Department’s Training Director. Still, the commander of the Internal Affairs Unit, came to the KPD in 1995 after previously serving as a Memphis police officer.
“I am ecstatic to bring Nevin, Ryan, Sammy and Steve into the fold as members of the Command Staff,” Noel said. “They bring a wide and diverse range of collective experience, and all four have proven that they are entirely committed to our mission as a Department. I am confident that they will add significant value as members of my Command Staff.”
In addition to Deputy Chief and Captain promotions, six KPD officers have been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant and eight officers have been promoted to Sergeant. Veteran officers Chris Bell, Brian Bumpus, Rick Eastridge, Jeremy Maupin, Adam Minner and Mike Perry were selected for promotion to Lieutenant, while Amy Boyd, Cody Fritz, Nelson Hamilton, Andrew Markham, Dusty Miller, Dean Ray, Brandon Wardlaw and Greg Womac were promoted to Sergeant.
In coordination with promotions, Chief Noel also announced several substantial, meaningful changes to the Department’s organizational structure. The most significant of those changes is the re-establishment of the Central District, which will increase the number of police districts from two to three. The Central District will encompass all of Downtown Knoxville, the area surrounding the University of Tennessee campus and South Knoxville.
“This isn’t change for the sake of change. There is real purpose and intentionality behind this,” Chief Noel said. “Adding a third district allows our officers to reduce their area of focus, more narrowly direct their efforts, be more proactive and directly engage with the community on a day-to-day basis to solve the specific public safety problems that impact each area of town.”
Additionally, another structural changes is that several previously centralized units will now be divided up among the individual districts, including the Traffic Services Unit. That change also includes the Inspections and Community Outreach Units, which will shift into expanded roles as Community Partnership Officers. The Community Partnership Officers will be assigned to specific districts to help solve problems, address quality of life issues, and facilitate community meetings within those districts.
“I want to empower our district commanders and give them the resources that they need to solve problems within their district, and this change will facilitate that,” Noel said. “Whether it is a business that is experiencing an ongoing problem, a traffic complaint or specific concerns from neighborhood residents, our district commanders will have the personnel that they need to solve those problems as they arise.”
Mark Fortner will remain Chief Noel’s second in command as the Department’s Assistant Chief.
The Field Operations Bureau – previously known as the Patrol Division – will be led by Deputy Chief Cindy Gass, who shifts into Field Operations after serving as the Deputy Chief over the Criminal Investigation Division. Captains Tony Willis, Sammy Shaffer and Nevin Long will serve as district commanders in the West, Central and East Districts, respectively.
“The name Patrol really minimizes the wide variety of assignments within the Division and all of the things that the Division’s personnel does on a day-to-day basis,” Noel said. “We wanted the name to more clearly reflect everything that falls under its umbrella and felt that Field Operations accomplishes that,” Noel said.
Newly-promoted Deputy Chief Susan Coker will command the Investigations Bureau. Captain Ryan Morrow will oversee the Violent Crime, Property Crime and Forensics Units as the Criminal Investigations Captain, while Captain John Kiely will serve as the Special Investigations Captain. In that role, Kiely will command the Organized Crime and Special Crimes Units as well as the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force as the state-wide commander.
Deputy Chief David Powell will lead the Management Services Bureau. Captain Brian Evans will be the Professional Development Captain and oversee the training academy as well as the Department’s recruitment efforts. Captain Don Jones will be the Support Services Captain and oversee the majority of the professional support staff, fleet services and numerous other units within the Management Services Bureau.
“It was important to me that to every extent possible the existing Command Staff members were moved into different assignments,” Noel said. “I wanted everyone to have a fresh start and give our senior leadership team the opportunity to diversify their experience. This will also allow our senior leaders to apply their existing expertise and skills to enhance and positively impact the division under their command.”
Captain Steve Still will remain the commander of the Internal Affairs Unit.
“The Internal Affairs Unit is directly involved in the constant evaluation of our policies, procedures and operations,” Noel said. “It’s imperative for us to have a command level supervisor leading that unit so that IAU has a voice in the decision-making process.”
The Command Staff members will assume their new assignments immediately following the promotional ceremony. The newly-promoted Sergeants and Lieutenants will step into their new roles and assignments on October 23.
“This has been in the works since my first day here, and I am thrilled to launch this reorganization with our senior leadership team in place,” Chief Noel said. “These changes have been made very deliberately with the purpose of enhancing our operations, re-imagining how we deliver our services and allowing us to be more effective in our primary mission of reducing crime and solving problems in neighborhoods.”