John Jefferson
Left: Burrel Davis (Murfreesboro Police Department). Right: Davis during his time as La Vergne Police Chief (La Vergne Police Department).
A former police chief in Tennessee who was involved in one of his department’s biggest sexual misconduct scandals was arrested and charged with kidnapping — a month after being charged with stalking.
Burrel “Chip” Davis, who was terminated as La Vergne Police Chief in February 2023 after a sex scandal that engulfed his department and cost the jobs of five officers, found himself on the other side of the law on Jan. 29. According to an affidavit obtained by WKRN, a local ABC affiliate, Davis allegedly entered his estranged wife’s home at around 7 p.m. to confront her about a man she was seeing. Her daughters were also in the house. Murfreesboro Police said in the document that he allegedly stole every family member’s phone, rendering them unable to call for help as the situation escalated.
While in the house, Davis allegedly found a gun inside his wife’s home and threatened to harm himself.
Details were not provided about when police were called, but Davis was arrested that night and charged with four counts of felony especially aggravated kidnapping, felony aggravated assault, two counts of misdemeanor domestic assault, and four counts of misdemeanor interference with emergency calls. Murfreesboro Police said he was being held on $145,000 bond and was scheduled to appear in court on March 5.
This was only the most recent brush with the law for the former police chief. On Dec. 24, 2024, Davis was arrested and charged with aggravated stalking and violating an order of protection after he entered an apartment complex. Details from that case did not indicate who Davis was accused of stalking. He was booked and released on $3,000 bond.
Davis, who served as La Vergne Police Chief for less than two years, was forced out of his position after an investigation revealed a sexual misconduct scandal that involved eight members of the department, including a sergeant and a detective. Five officers were fired and the other three were suspended. While he had vowed to address the conduct at the time, an investigation found that Davis “impeded the initial investigation into sexual misconduct” and “permitted — if not encouraged — conduct potentially contrary to state and federal law.”
In December 2024, the Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission voted to decertify Davis after text messages were found on his phone related to the 2023 sex scandal.
Read the full article here