Tenn. legislators will look into TBI oversight of officer-involved deaths

NASHVILLE — The local agreement announced last week for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to probe officer-involved shootings by Memphis police and Shelby County sheriff’s officers leaves Knoxville, Chattanooga and Nashville as the biggest Tennessee cities where local authorities will conduct such investigations on their own, state lawmakers were told Monday.

But Knoxville Police Chief David Rausch told legislators that doesn’t mean there’s no independent review of such in-house investigations when Knoxville officers are involved in shootings. He said the medical examiner conducts its own investigation, the city’s law department and a civilian review commission conduct reviews, and ultimately the Knox County grand jury makes what is effectively a civilian review.

Rausch, who is also currently president of the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police, said there are also concerns about TBI leading such investigations, including “leaving the deceased person on the ground until they get there. Having to wait for the resources to get there causes a lot of issues. We can look at recent examples,” he said, a likely reference to the 2014 fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, whose body was left lying on a city street for about four hours.

Police shootings, police body cameras and several other law enforcement issues expected to be considered by the Tennessee legislature in 2016 were the focus of testimony from dozens of experts Monday during a daylong fact-finding hearing by the state Senate Judiciary Committee. The panel took no action on any bills Monday but will use the information gathered when it considering the bills after the General Assembly convenes in January.

Sen. Brian Kelsey, RGermantown, the committee chairman, and Rep. G.A. Hardaway, D-Memphis, are drafting a bill to designate the TBI as the lead agency investigating any officer-involved fatal shooting in the state. Last week, Memphis Police Director Toney Armstrong, Shelby County Sheriff Bill Oldham and District Attorney General Amy Weirich signed a “memorandum of understanding” with TBI Director Mark Gwyn calling for the state agency to handle the investigations of any officer-involved shootings and suspicious prisoner deaths. The two large law enforcement agencies have traditionally led their own investigations. The agreement does not include the any of the suburban police departments outside Memphis.

Current law gives local district attorneys authority to ask for TBI help in officer-involved shootings, and Monday’s testimony indicated that most rural district attorneys do ask TBI to lead such investigations.

There was also considerable testimony about whether to mandate body cameras for all police officers. Sen. Sara Kyle, DMemphis, is sponsoring such a bill but it would exclude police departments who can’t obtain grants or other funding to buy them.