A meeting of the Crossville Personnel Board has been scheduled for noon Thursday, July 12 at Crossville city hall in reference to the appeal of a written reprimand requested by Crossville Police Sgt. Tim Vandever.
The incident that led to the reprimand in question occurred on June 19 and started when a white Toyota van passed Vandever's personal vehicle on I-40. Vandever, who was returning from a doctor visit with his wife said that the vehicle, occupied by 4 people was driving erratically. After following the vehicle he called 911 on his cell phone to report the driver. Before Vandever called 911 he said the vehicle cut in front of his vehicle nearly hitting it and the driver began pouring sodas out the window on to Vandever's vehicle causing serious visibility problems.
After contacting the 911 dispatcher, Vandever was patched to THP dispatch having passed a THP unit stopped in the median. The THP unit was tied up with a traffic stop and unable to respond. Vandever continued talking to 911 dispatcher trying to get a marked unit to stop the vehicle. Vandever continued to follow the vehicle until it stopped at a house on Lantana Road where he said the driver of the van was very belligerent and he explained who he was and why he was there and an argument followed. Other family members at the residence became involved and eventually Crossville police and Cumberland County Sheriff's Department units arrived.
After further investigation, the Sheriff's deputies took over the matter and wrote the driver a citation for reckless driving.
Crossville Police Headquarters sign
Sgt. Vandever
A few days later, Vandever was given a written reprimand based on a citizen complaint alleging he had acted unprofessionally in the incident. Captain Chris Kendrick wrote in the reprimand that Vandever should not have followed the subjects onto their property but waited for on-duty officers to respond.
Capt. Kendrick wrote, “You exercised poor judgment by personally confronting the subjects which put you at a severe tactical disadvantage. You were outnumbered on private property with no other witnesses than your driver. This incident could have had tragic results for everyone involved and you could have been viewed as the aggressor.”
Vandever appealed the reprimand saying he felt it was “unfair based on the way the Crossville Police Department's Accreditation Manual is written.
the VORP Store web page
The Appeal quotes general order 2.11 that states, “Off-duty officers shall act in an official capacity if they observe an incident requiring police action and time is of the essence, or there is an immediate threat to life, substantial property damage, or to prevent the escape of a criminal. Generally, minor traffic offenses and minor misdemeanors will not represent a serious criminal offense requiring off-duty intervention.”
Vandever's appeal states that he felt the incident was not a minor traffic incident that put Vandever, his wife, and the general public in danger. Vandever pointed out that a couple of years prior he was recognized as an “officer of the month” for an off-duty incident when he stopped a thief who left the business with merchandise.
Unfortunately, he went Ion private property...that's where he went wrong...
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