Oak Ridge police outline changes after Scarborough shooting; plan more foot patrols, mutual-aid coordination

Police Chief Robin Smith told Oak Ridge City Council on Monday the department has revised how it responds to rapidly assembling crowds after a May 25 shooting in the Scarborough neighborhood, and said the department will put more officers on foot, create an on-call system for off-duty officers and coordinate standing mutual-aid with neighboring agencies.

Smith said the department did not call in additional teams when social-media chatter about a crowd began on May 24. With six officers on duty that night, the on-duty supervisor staged officers nearby rather than engaging the gathering, launched a drone to monitor the crowd and contacted Anderson County and Knox County sheriff’s offices to stand by. “There were 4 9 11 calls received, all related to the growing crowd with reports of people carrying firearms,” Smith said. He later told council officers drove into the crowd after shots were fired and “loaded 3 gunshot victims into the police cars, and drove them to where…