Safety Dept., THP to change promotions, follow new standards

NASHVILLE — Gov. Phil Bredesen announced Monday that he hopes to eliminate political influence at the Tennessee Highway Patrol by following recommendations made by the interim safety commissioner and a consulting firm.

Bredesen has agreed with three broad recommendations made by interim Safety Commissioner Jerry Nicely, which were based on an analysis by New York-based security consultant Kroll Inc.

“The THP is a good organization with a storied history,” the Kroll report concluded. “Yet the role that politics has played in the THP cannot be overstated.”

Bredesen said the recommendations he plans to adopt include:

— Adopting transparent hiring and promotions practices.

— Conforming to nationally recognized professional standards and oversight.

— Streamlining management by moving certain functions out of the Department of Safety.

“The changes we make today are another step toward eliminating the decades old influence of politics in the Highway Patrol,” Bredesen said in a release.

Bredesen has said he wants to make restoring public confidence and improving trooper morale a priority after allegations of widespread misconduct and mismanagement at the Highway Patrol last year.

The Kroll report found that personnel matters at the Highway Patrol are “rife with political favoritism at the expense of competence.”

Bredesen temporarily moved Nicely to the Safety Department, which oversees the Highway Patrol, after a series of scandals that included troopers with criminal backgrounds, allegations of ticket-fixing and widespread complaints of political favoritism.

The department’s promotion practices were criticized in the aftermath of a report by The Tennessean newspaper that two-thirds of Highway Patrol promotions went to officers who gave money to Bredesen’s campaign or had family members or political patrons who did.

The new processes approved by Bredesen will require a statewide eligibility roster for hiring, publishing all test scores and background checks for new recruits.

“Those within the department have come to assume that people will be hired and promoted based on recommendations — euphemisms for pressure — by elected officials in the executive and legislative branches,” the report found.

Oversight and performance would be enhanced by the creation of a Bureau of Professional Standards and by putting the Tennessee Highway Patrol back under the jurisdiction of the Peace Officers’ Standards and Training Commission, according to the recommendations.

The POST commission and law enforcement training, meanwhile, would be shifted to the Department of Commerce and Insurance, while the Department of Revenue would handle titles and registrations.

The governor said doesn’t plan to follow Kroll’s advice to consider merging the Highway Patrol with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to create a single statewide police force.

“I believe we’ve made great progress over these past three months in reforming both the management and the internal structures of the Tennessee Highway Patrol,” Bredesen said. “With the announcement today of these changes, we move an important step closer to our goal.”