Mayoral Candidate Larry Grohn released a letter on Thursday "to clarify comments made at the Greater Chattanooga Association of Realtors Forum."
Mayor Andy Berke said Councilman Grohn during the forum "characterized the Chattanooga Police Department as 'harassing gang members.' ”
The mayor's campaign said, "At a candidate forum yesterday, Councilman Grohn not only made this inaccurate statement, but defended it later at the event when Mayor Berke stood up for our officers."
Mayor Berke said, “Councilman Grohn demonstrated that he is out of touch and has no idea what sacrifices our officers make every day to keep our streets safe. If you are in a gang and you commit a crime -- you should go to jail. Period. I don’t call this harassment. I call it the law.
“Our officers put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe and they need a Mayor who has their back. Over the next four years, I’ll support our Police Department by putting more officers on the streets and equip them with the tools they need to keep us safe and get guns out of the hands of gang members.”
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Councilman Grohn said in his letter:
To all the Officers of the Chattanooga Police Department,
Ever since I began my community involvement in Chattanooga I have worked to develop a special relationship with our city’s first responders, those police and firefighters who defend and protect the citizens of Chattanooga. I have steadfastly supported and will continue to support the fine men and women who put their lives on the line every day. I fully support all those who voluntarily serve to protect us locally and globally.
The comment I made concerning police “harassment” during the Greater Chattanooga Association of Realtors’ Forum on Jan. 11th needs to be clarified. It needs to be seen considering the failure of the Berke administration to use the full weight of the mayor’s office to ensure the professional and difficult work done by the CPD every day bears fruit. The CPD makes good arrests only to see criminals go through a revolving door and be back out on the streets with little or no jail time.
On Feb. 21, 2016, the Times Free Press released the article “Investigation reveals big holes, little jail time in city's gang violence initiative”. The article began with, “Despite a two-year effort by Chattanooga leaders to curb gang-related shootings through the Violence Reduction Initiative, the vast majority of targeted offenders have avoided long sentences and significant jail time.”
I have yet to see the 2016 crime and arrest statistics, I am hopeful the numbers have improved almost a year later. However, the fact remains the requisite relationships at the local, state and national level which must be in place to ensure the tough and difficult work done by the CPD leads to more and significant jail time for gang members and other individuals who will not abide by this city’s laws, keeping criminals off the streets, restoring peace to families and communities.
Larry Grohn
Mayoral Candidate