Chattanooga Police Chief Arrested On 17-Count Indictment Day After Her Resignation

  • Thursday, June 27, 2024
Mugshot of former Police Chief Celeste Murphy
Mugshot of former Police Chief Celeste Murphy

The former police chief of the Chattanooga Police Department faces a set of felony and misdemeanor criminal charges following an investigation by special agents of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

That comes a day after Chief Celeste Murphy, 56, stepped down from her post.

At the request of District Attorney General Pro Tem D. Michael Dunavant, TBI agents began investigating the residency of Chief Murphy in April. DA Dunavant was appointed by the Court to serve as District Attorney General Pro Tem upon the recusal of 11th Judicial District Attorney General Coty Wamp.

During the investigation, agents determined Ms. Murphy knowingly entered false information on several government documents related to establishing residency in Chattanooga, though swearing to their truth in signing the documents, the TBI said.

On Tuesday, the Hamilton County Grand Jury returned a 17-count indictment, charging Ms. Murphy with one count of illegal voter registration, one count of false entries on official registration or election documents, three counts of false entries in governmental records, three counts of forgery, three counts of perjury, and six counts of official misconduct.

On Thursday morning, Ms. Murphy surrendered to agents at the Hamilton County Jail, where authorities booked her and subsequently released her after she posted an aggregate $19,000 bond.

Ms. Murphy had been tabbed as the new chief by Mayor Tim Kelly in 2022.

She came here from the Police Department in Atlanta, where she still has a number of relatives.

At the time, she was hailed as the city's first black female police chief.

Click here to read the indictments.

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