Iron City, Tennessee is finding itself on the lookout for a new police chief after the local Channel 4 news teams investigated the past of Mr. Jesse Barnett who, until this past week, held the esteemed law enforcement position. The investigation uncovered a law enforcement career marred with misconduct spanning several years across two different departments and ending with his current one in Iron City. And the real heartbreak here is that he was hired as Iron City’s Police Chief without a background check during his application and subsequent hiring.
What exactly was the cause of this oversight? Too much paperwork? Not enough funding? Did Jesse Barnett submit forged documents? No, City Manager Jack Meigs simply admitted that he had not conducted a background check prior to hiring Barnett.
That type of simple reasoning might want to be reassessed by the city government given the results of Channel 4’s independent investigation. The findings, which cover Jesse Barnetts two prior position with two different law enforcement agencies, paint a picture less of an individual expected to lead by example and more like a rowdy fraternity member out for a night of beer and brawls.
In 2006, the Perry County Sheriff’s Department terminated Barnett for acts of misconduct while on duty that included confiscating beer and then promptly delivering it to a friend’s party while still on duty. Additionally, a routine traffic stop found him making “inappropriate comments” towards the female driver he pulled over.
Barnett denied the allegations and stated “I’ve never been guilty of any kind of unethical behavior, nor will be in the future.”
Fast forward two years later and Jesse Barnett was hired at the Collinwood Police Department. While most people see a second chance as a way to make amends for wrong doing, others see it as an excuse to fall back on old habits. Take a guess which route was chosen in this case?
During his tenure with the Collinwood Police Department, Jesse Barnett was accused of utilizing an “improper firearm during pursuit of a suspect into the woods. Furthermore, a woman called to complain to a department investigator Barnett had nude photos of her on his cell phone. Sure enough, when the phone was handed over there were indeed photos found. It was enough for the city of Collinwood to make the decision they didn’t want him on their police force anymore.
Chief Daniel Farris shared his thoughts with Channel 4 saying that “I asked him to resign or be fired,” said Farris. “I would not hire him back, and I would not recommend him for any other department.”
And from there? Well, it was on to Iron City. Despite this track record of misconduct and highly questionable behavior that has no place in a law enforcement agency, he was hired on as the Chief of Police. In his seven months as Chief, he developed a poor reputation with the citizenship and when the news of his termination began getting around, residents were more than happy to share their opinions.
Charles Etheredge, resident, said “We all want to get rid of him, most of us,”
“He’s not qualified in my book, and the people in Iron City, the citizens, are not satisfied with him,” according to James Heatherly, another citizen left underwhelmed by the cities choice for it’s governing law officer.
Within a day of the news station’s findings, Jesse Barnett was dismissed by the City Manager for reasons that included hiring four officers without city permission, being involved in three car wrecks in a six month period and making multiple purchases with city funds without proper authorization… including a military grade assault rifle for his own personal use.
Iron City is another example of just how badly hiring oversights can be, especially when the background check process is done half way or disregarded entirely. One can assume that if someone wants to apply for a particular position then obviously they possess all the necessary qualities to excel and maintain the reputation of said position, correct? Unfortunately, there are far too many opportunistic people who take advantage of the authority and power granted to them and that’s why background checks are in place – to catch them. Iron City Management should have known this but let’s hope moving forward the memory of Jesse Barnett has them thinking twice before forgetting about proper hiring procedure.
