Tennessee Highway Patrol Supervisor Quits Amid Probe
Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2009 2:23 pm
Funds may have been misused
A top supervisor in the Tennessee Highway Patrol's criminal investigations division stepped down to avoid termination amid an investigation into misuse of funds in the latest scandal to hit a high-ranking officer in the department.
Special Agent in Charge Billy Grooms, head of the East Tennessee Criminal Investigations Division based in Knoxville, stepped down Friday as a broader investigation into his office was ongoing.
"At this point it's the possible misuse of funds," said THP spokesman Mike Browning, who would offer no details on whether other officers may be implicated. He simply said "the office is under investigation."
Grooms was promoted after the scandals that cleared out much of the leadership of the patrol in 2005 and 2006. At the time, Gov. Phil Bredesen and his administration vowed to clean up the agency and reorganized certain offices and divisions within the patrol, including a reorganization of the criminal investigations division to make it more accountable within the hierarchy of the patrol.
Several scandals since then have raised questions about the success of the cleanup. Bredesen was out of state on vacation this week and unable to comment. His communications director, Michael Drescher, said the investigation was in the early stages and the office did not care to comment about specifics out of concern for interfering
http://www.tennessean.com/article/20090 ... amid+probe
A top supervisor in the Tennessee Highway Patrol's criminal investigations division stepped down to avoid termination amid an investigation into misuse of funds in the latest scandal to hit a high-ranking officer in the department.
Special Agent in Charge Billy Grooms, head of the East Tennessee Criminal Investigations Division based in Knoxville, stepped down Friday as a broader investigation into his office was ongoing.
"At this point it's the possible misuse of funds," said THP spokesman Mike Browning, who would offer no details on whether other officers may be implicated. He simply said "the office is under investigation."
Grooms was promoted after the scandals that cleared out much of the leadership of the patrol in 2005 and 2006. At the time, Gov. Phil Bredesen and his administration vowed to clean up the agency and reorganized certain offices and divisions within the patrol, including a reorganization of the criminal investigations division to make it more accountable within the hierarchy of the patrol.
Several scandals since then have raised questions about the success of the cleanup. Bredesen was out of state on vacation this week and unable to comment. His communications director, Michael Drescher, said the investigation was in the early stages and the office did not care to comment about specifics out of concern for interfering
http://www.tennessean.com/article/20090 ... amid+probe
Does that make me a bad person? 