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Attorney: Demoted KCSO captain wants to preserve good name

Sheriff Tom Spangler bounced the newly promoted Brad Hall in August from chief of detectives.

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee — A Knox County Sheriff's Office captain demoted last month after an internal investigation will appeal to a community oversight committee if necessary to clear his name, his attorney said Friday.

"I think what's most important to Capt. Brad Hall is that his record remain the same as it's been for 29 years, and that's clean, honest and reflective of someone who's been a dedicated Knox County Sheriff's employee," Scott Lanzon said Friday.

Sheriff Tom Spangler demoted the veteran investigator from chief of detectives to captain in August.

Department internal investigators determined that Hall had been involved in an off-duty drunken scuffle the night of April 26 with a lieutenant and longtime friend in the Old City. The men lied or were evasive about what happened when word of the incident surfaced months later, the investigation showed.

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Hall, who had just been promoted to chief of detectives in early May, also was suspended without pay for two days and moved to juvenile crimes. His friend Lt. Denny Scalf was suspended two days without pay and moved to the warrants division.

They weren't the only ones who knew about the episode, however.

Hall's wife had contacted communications chief Kimberly Glenn for help finding her husband. She worried about his drinking, the investigation showed. Glenn later revealed she also got Capt. David Amburn involved, contacting him because his narcotics unit had control over Hall's vehicle.

Glenn's husband, Jerry Glenn, an arson investigator, also got involved, going down to the Old City to retrieve Hall and take him home.

No one said anything until word began to leak out this summer.

Credit: KCSO
Brad Hall of KCSO shown in a recent photo with Bernie Lyon and other KCSO personnel.

Glenn, who ended up submitting a memo in July detailing her version of what happened that night, got a written reprimand. Her husband and Amburn were reprimanded verbally.

Hall has filed a grievance over the demotion. Chief Deputy Bernie Lyon last week denied it, saying Hall was a probationary deputy chief and that he'd filed his appeal too late.

On Wednesday, Hall through Lanzon's office submitted a direct appeal to Spangler.

"...I am asking for further review of the demotion I received relative to a matter that occurred before I was ever on probation for my formal promotion to assistant chief on or about May 6, 2019," the letter states.

Lanzon said Friday his client was prepared to appeal onward to the Sheriff's Office Merit System Council if Spangler turns him down.

The council, composed of citizens who are appointed, has a stated mission of setting forth and enforcing "a structured set of rules and guidelines to favorably influence the professionalism of law enforcement in Knox County through fair hiring, promotion and management practices: and to protect law enforcement personnel from coercion or loss of employment because of political activities of the administration."

The Merit System Council is the record-keeper of Sheriff's Office law enforcement personnel files.

Credit: KCSO
Kimberly Glenn, communications director, shown during the internal affairs investigation.

Hall's file shows he's abruptly quit twice in his 29 years. It also shows he's received numerous commendations for his investigative work.

Lanzon said a review of Hall's personnel file shows his work history is not "less than acceptable" as his demotion notice stated Aug. 20. The lawyer said he'd already been doing the job of chief of detectives for months when he was actually promoted in early May, days after the April 26 incident.

"Capt. Hall's performance was exemplary throughout until he found himself at odds with Kimberly Glenn," he said.

Glenn could not be reached Friday. She's previously declined to comment beyond her submitted memo to the department.

Glenn, once a friend of the Halls, secretly recorded the conversation she had with Hall's wife in April and later turned it over as part of the investigation.

Glenn later objected to Hall moving her son-in-law from his department position and she also was trying to help out Amburn, Lanzon said. Amburn had been a candidate for the promotion that Hall got, the lawyer said, and remains so today.

Amburn told internal investigators this summer that he was mindful of Hall's promotion. He remained quiet about what he knew of Hall's episode in the Old City because he didn't want to appear to be trying to make Hall look bad, he told investigators.

Lanzon said the fact that Glenn secretly recorded Hall's wife and then released it months later shows she had "ulterior motives."

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