Internal investigation: former assistant chief violated deadly force restriction policy

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - The former assistant chief of the embattled Millersville Police Department violated the city’s deadly force restrictions policy when he left a gun unattended in his patrol car that was booted in downtown Nashville, an internal investigation found.

Former assistant chief Glenn Alred, along with former Millersville police chief Melvin Brown, both resigned in July following the discovery that they are uncertified police officers and questions about whether they continued to work full time.

WSMV4 Investigates obtained photos of a gun left unattended in Alred’s police car while booted in a parking garage in downtown Nashville.

The night WSMV4 started asking questions about the photos and the amount of hours Brown and Alred were working as police officers despite not being certified, WSMV4 Investigates confirmed both had resigned.

Alred wrote in his resignation letter that he was leaving, citing, “relentless harassment through false allegations.”

While Millersville City Manager Scott Avery said their resignation had nothing to do with the photos. Records show an internal investigation was launched after WSMV4 provided the photographs.

The investigation found that Alred violated the city’s deadly force restrictions policy by leaving his own gun in the passenger seat, where it could have been potentially “accessed by an unauthorized person.”

Because the findings from the internal investigation came after Alred resigned, he was not disciplined.

Avery pointed out that if Alred ever wished to rejoin the department, the violation would be taken into consideration.

As for why Alred’s police vehicle was booted in a downtown Nashville parking garage, Alred told investigators that he was meeting friends for dinner and was authorized to use the vehicle because he was essentially acting chief for that weekend and was on call.

Alred said he didn’t realize that his personal credit card had been declined, thus the boot and the fine.

The photos are the latest controversy with Alred and Brown, who were found earlier this year to be running the Millersville police department despite not being certified police officers.

The POST Commission, which certifies police officers in the state, ordered them to only work part time until they were certified.

But a follow up state investigation raised questions if they continued to work as full-time police officers.

At the Aug. 19 meeting of the POST Commission, a state investigator reported discrepancies in Alred’s time card and found he was working more than than his time sheet allowed.

However, the investigator could not determine if Alred was working 100 hours, which would have meant a violation of the commission’s rules for part-time employees. WSMV4 Investigates asked Alred for an interview, but he declined, stating in part, “You could ask POST why they cleared me if I actually had done something wrong.” During the commission meeting, Avery said the Millersville Police Department was moving in the right direction, but added, “We have lawsuits coming in on a regular basis where I’m learning things. That’s causing me to open some stuff up and look at things from the past.”

Avery told WSMV4 Investigates that neither lawsuit mentioned Alred or Brown.

Brown was found to be working full-time hours, according to the investigator, but he was doing light duty work and not in-field police work.

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