Farewell, Fletcher Police chief reflects on his work in Chattanooga ahead of retirement
It has been three years since Fred Fletcher was sworn in as Chattanooga’s police chief, but in 11 short days he will take off his uniform and badge for the last time. Fletcher came with a promise to “shake the snow globe” at the Chattanooga Police Department and began in earnest with a set of policy changes to revamp its model of policing. He did so by working to build community partnerships, incorporate new technologies and use focused deterrence to target the sliver of the population driving violent crime.
“This community asked me to do a few specific things,” he said Monday. “They asked me to embrace the community, build relationships and roll out community policing. They asked me to improve the inner operations of the police department and improve morale. And they asked me to use technology aggressively and progressively.”
Now, looking back on his tenure as police chief, he says he’s proud of both the department and the community for their willingness to begin and support a long process of change to address issues such as violent crime and the opioid epidemic.
“A lot of people talk about how organizations don’t like change. I don’t know if that’s true or not, we say it a lot, but I can tell you that we have done more in three years than my wildest hopes,” he said.
In those three years, the city has experienced dozens of homicides, a domestic terrorist attack that left five military members dead and two horrific crashes — an Interstate 75 wreck that killed six people in 2015 and the crash of a school bus that killed six Woodmore Elementary School students in 2016.
He said there have been missteps along the way and he isn’t immune to mistakes, but he’s proud of the way his men and women have served.
“As a department, certainly there are things that we could have done differently and better. If I knew what they were I would
have done them differently and better,” he said. “We have treated people inside and outside the department well. We have treated them the way we would want our family members treated.
“One thing that we have always stood for at this police department, since I’ve been here, is doing the right thing for the right reason at the right time in the right way. Period. Whether anybody’s looking or not.”
Among the department’s top priorities during Fletcher’s tenure has been the perennial issue of gang violence in Chattanooga. He was appointed, in part, to implement the Violence Reduction Initiative, one of Mayor Andy Berke’s signature initiatives, to combat the epidemic.
In theory, it relies on focused deterrence through cooperation by police, prosecutors and social service groups to crack down on violent offenders while assisting those who want out of that lifestyle through education and job training.
Chattanooga has pumped more than $1 million into the initiative, but it has had, at best, mixed results.
Shootings involving gang members have not decreased since the program was launched in March 2014. Instead, they rose from 63 to 80 in 2015 and remained at 80 in 2016, according to police.
But Fletcher said Monday that shootings have dropped appreciably this year from where they were in 2016, one of the most violent years for Chattanooga in recent memory. Criminal shootings in 2017 so far are 25 percent below where they were last year, and gang-motivated shootings are down by almost half, according to numbers provided by police.
Fletcher also said they’re taking more guns off the streets than ever before. Police have seized more than 600 annually since 2012, growing that number by several dozen every year.
“We seized 996 firearms illegally possessed or used in 2016,” he said.
When asked whether he thought it would be possible to bring an end to the violence in Chattanooga, he said he was uncertain, but repeated that the men and women in the department work constantly to do so.
“I don’t know if it’s possible or not. I know the men and women of the CPD are going to continue to risk themselves and all of their futures to put themselves between gun violence and this community,” he said.
“They do it every day, they do it every night and they do it at great risk to themselves. I have had officers assaulted with firearms many, many times since I’ve been here, and they go out and do it again and again and again, and they do it for $15 an hour.”
Asked to comment on Fletcher’s departure, Berke applauded Fletcher’s work in Chattanooga.
“From day one, Fred Fletcher demonstrated his dedication to Chattanooga as both an engaged member of our community and leader of the men and women in blue,” he wrote in an email. “He expertly led our officers through more than one crisis and grieved alongside Chattanooga families.
“Fred not only developed leaders but led by example through building relationships in neighborhoods — a foundation of community policing. His relentless focus on keeping people safe and improving the lives of Chattanoogans will be missed, and I am forever thankful for his tireless service to CPD and our community.”
Hamilton County District Attorney General Neal Pinkston also had warm words for Fletcher despite earlier criticisms of the police department that it was not building strong enough cases for him to prosecute as part of the VRI.
“Over the last three years, I’ve come to respect Chief Fletcher and truly appreciate all he’s done to make Chattanooga safer for us all,” he wrote in a statement.
“He brought really great ideas and an endless amount of energy to the city’s top law enforcement job, and it will be a challenge to find someone as talented and dedicated as Fred Fletcher.”
In fact, with less than two weeks to go until a new chief is needed, a five-person search committee organized by Berke to find a replacement is now reviewing 49 applications received from candidates. They will recommend no more than three finalists to Berke, whose choice must be ratified by the Chattanooga City Council.
The list includes David Roddy, the police department’s chief of staff; Danna Vaughn, assistant chief of the special operations bureau; and Edwin McPherson, assistant chief of the criminal investigations bureau.
But that is a decision Fletcher won’t be making. He said he hasn’t accepted a new job, but he has received several offers and, in the meantime, he will be spending more time with his family out west, where they own a home in Colorado.
“I will always identify with this uniform,” he said. “The people that I’ve had the privilege to serve here are the bravest, most selfless, most creative people I could ever hope to work with.”
“It has been one of the true privileges and joys of a long set of careers to be able to serve the men and women of the CPD.”