City of Chattanooga Chief of Police John Chambers told the Pachyderm Club on Monday he is tackling the 22 percent vacancy rate he inherited in August with changes in the hiring process and workplace culture.
The Chattanooga Police Department’s vacancy rate is down to 18 percent today, he said. He pledged to fill out those patrol positions this year, and he promised to advocate for public safety as infrastructure that must keep abreast of the city’s fast-growing population in future months.
Chief Chambers said he meets with Mayor Tim Kelly weekly, and the mayor has supported all his ideas.
“The only time that he is involved is when I ask him to be,” he said.
This month Chief Chambers created a human resources director position and a recruiting coordinator position. The recruiting coordinator will take over backlogged testing and background checks required to enter the police academy.
He said the department has only processed 20 of the 200 applicants for the April academy.
Chief Chambers said he’s aggressively recruiting and has managed to regain four officers who recently quit. A leadership council he created to nominate and vet positions traditionally appointed by the chief has been “extremely successful,” he said.
Chief Chambers said he’s become a data nerd, too. The first five months of 2024 saw a 44 percent increase in crime and a 25 percent increase in shootings, he said. He looked back to successes in 2021 to bring back what works.
He started with supporting CPD patrol officers.
“I’ve got your back,” he tells them. He communicates face-to-face, not by word of mouth, video or email, he said. But officers who “tarnish the badge intentionally” will be left out in the cold, he said, to much applause from his audience.
“That’s the response that I got from every single employee in every single meeting,” he said.
The end of 2024 ushered in 21 percent fewer arrests and a 23 percent reduction in complaints filed against officers, he said.
Gang Changes
Chief Chambers has designated four police units, or 40 officers, to track gang members who commit violence. Officers have a clear mission and a clear job.
“We are absolutely going after the right people,” he said.
The chief said Chattanooga gangs generally are not as organized as they once were. Members are much younger, gangs don’t have territories anymore, and they don’t bankroll the gang with an organized crime ring, he said.
“There are no more boundaries,” he said.
All 10 members of a former gang task force were suspended for misconduct in a three-year span. He said their job was not clear and they were “doing whatever they wanted.”
“If you tarnish this badge, you’re gone,” he said.
Cooperating with ICE
A member of the audience asked if Chief Chambers will or won’t cooperate with federal immigration and customs enforcement agents, but Chief Chambers said that’s not his decision.
“We don’t have the authority to enforce immigration laws,” he said.
State and federal laws are separate so they don’t contradict one another.
“We don’t have the authority to enforce those, nor do we have a mechanism,” he said. “That’s by design.”
Homelessness
Chief Chambers clarified that CPD may clear homeless encampments from city- or county-owned property, but not from private property without permission from the property owner.