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Tennessee POST panel refers Knoxville officer to full decertification hearing after alleged falsified juvenile field interview
Summary
A Tennessee POST informal hearing subcommittee voted to send Knoxville officer Sean Sajak’s case to a full formal decertification hearing after KPD investigators said he falsified a juvenile field interview; the officer and his attorney asked for leniency, citing remorse and prior positive evaluations.
A Tennessee Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) informal hearing subcommittee voted to refer a Knoxville Police Department officer, Sean Sajak, to the full commission for a formal decertification hearing after prosecutors’ representatives told the panel Sajak falsified a field interview involving a juvenile.
Sergeant Michael Dabble of KPD’s Office of Professional Standards told the subcommittee the officer submitted a field-interview entry stating a juvenile was at a location when, according to departmental records, that juvenile was in custody. Dabble said a lieutenant who confronted Sajak recorded that Sajak admitted falsifying the report during a Garrity interview and that the conduct raises potential felony exposure under Tennessee Code Annotated 39-16-504 (destruction of or tampering with government records).
Sajak’s counsel, attorney Chuck Burks, acknowledged his client’s error, submitted personnel records and letters of recommendation and asked the commission to allow Sajak to retain certification with conditions such as additional training. Burks said Sajak resigned from KPD and had an offer from Sevier County while the matter is resolved.
Sajak addressed the panel and expressed remorse, saying he had been overwhelmed by workload and did not intend to deceive. “I’ve been nothing but honest about the incident… I’m very remorseful,” Sajak said, adding he resigned to speed an employment transition and promised to learn from the incident.
Commissioners asked about Sajak’s training, his field-training officer (FTO) history and whether he checked the juvenile’s custody status. Investigators told the panel the juvenile was in custody at the time the field interview claimed otherwise and that department staff discovered anomalies in the report during an audit.
Commissioner Wright moved to forward the matter to a full formal hearing; Commissioner Carter seconded and the subcommittee voted to refer the case. The investigator explained next procedural steps to Sajak’s counsel following the vote.
The referral does not itself suspend or remove certification; it sends the matter to a full commission hearing where formal findings and any sanction would be decided.
