Knoxville Police Chief Paul Noel Suspended 1 Month Over Flirtatious Texts With Officer
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Aug 12
Knoxville Police Chief Paul Noel Suspended 1 Month Over Flirtatious Texts With Officer
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Aug 12
Summary
A 1-month suspension hit Knoxville Police Chief Paul Noel after an internal probe found years of flirtatious text exchanges with Officer Jasmine Reed, including messages about traveling together.
Those messages surfaced during an investigation into Reed’s relationship with Lt. Keith DeBow, which investigators said involved on-duty sex and repeated meetings in department spaces.
Surveillance video showed Reed and DeBow entering a storage room together 37 times for a combined 8 hours and 7 minutes; DeBow retired before the complaint was filed and was not investigated.
Captain Tammy DeBow, the lieutenant’s wife, was also suspended for texting Reed about the affair, while investigators found no criminal wrongdoing by the three officers.
The scandal widened further as Reed was separately reported to have mishandled evidence in as many as 20 cases, deepening scrutiny of conduct inside the Knoxville Police Department.