Knoxville Police Department Chief David Rausch is interviewed regarding the secondary employment policy for the department Tuesday, March 1, 2016. (AMY SMOTHERMAN BURGESS/NEWS SENTINEL)

By Don Jacobs of the Knoxville News Sentinel

Knoxville Police Chief David Rausch said Friday he won't be making any more phone calls to University of Tennessee football coach Butch Jones when UT players are suspects in criminal cases.

Knox County prosecutors, who have opposed what Rausch characterized as "courtesy calls," on Friday deemed the chief's policy reversal "a positive move."

After the News Sentinel raised questions about Rausch's string of calls with Jones following rape allegations against two players, Rausch and Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero opted to review the practice.

Four calls took place between Jones and Rausch on the day of the Nov. 16, 2014, rape allegations against former players A.J. Johnson and Michael Williams, according to Jones' cellphone records, obtained by the News Sentinel through a public records request.

Those calls began more than 13 hours before police investigators obtained a search warrant for Johnson's South Knoxville apartment to collect evidence.

"After reviewing our longstanding practice of courtesy notifications to the University of Tennessee administration of incidents involving UT students, it is clear that no investigations were compromised or improper information provided," Rausch said in a prepared statement released Friday. "But in the interest of transparency and to alleviate any appearance of conflict of interest, we have changed the previous practice, to ensure that investigators focus without hindrance on finding the facts and bringing justice to victims of crime.

"Going forward, in any incident involving a student at the university, (the Knoxville Police Department) will make formal notification only to UT law enforcement, as required by state law and as part of our ongoing interdepartmental cooperation."

The News Sentinel made repeated requests in March and April for an interview with Rausch to discuss the policy of courtesy contacts. A KPD spokesman would not grant an interview and referred a reporter to Rausch's statement released when the cellphone records were obtained March 30.

"When we investigate an alleged crime involving an athlete at UT, as a professional courtesy, our longstanding practice has been that we alert the head coach and staff," Rausch said in the statement. "At no time is any information shared with the university that would hinder or jeopardize any investigation. The purpose of the notification is due to the scrutiny these events bring to allow appropriate time to prepare responses to the various interests."

Assistant District Attorney General Sean McDermott on April 13 said his boss, District Attorney General Charme Allen, was generally opposed to pre-arrest courtesy notifications "not made in furtherance of the investigation."

"A pre-arrest disclosure of sensitive information that is not made for the purpose of advancing the criminal investigation potentially could violate state law regarding the misuse of official information," McDermott said at the time.

Allen on Friday didn't respond to questions about Rausch's policy change. She issued a statement through Deputy District Attorney General Kyle Hixson saying the office works with police "to improve our practices in all areas."

"This is a positive move by Chief Rausch that clarifies the role of his agency in criminal investigations involving University of Tennessee students," Allen said.

UT athletics spokesman Ryan Robinson said Friday the department had no comment on Rausch's decision.

Knox County Sheriff Jimmy "J.J." Jones could not be reached Friday to discuss whether his agency engages in courtesy calls to coaches in investigations involving UT football players.

UT Police Chief Troy Lane could not be reached Friday for comment on whether he will notify UT coaches if alerted a football player is a suspect in a case.

Jones' cellphone records show the coach spoke to Rausch within hours of the incident at a party that led to rape charges against Johnson and Williams. Their accuser said she was raped between 1:45-2:30 a.m. at Johnson's apartment in the Woodlands complex.

Police said they learned of the rape accusation about 3 a.m. from an E-911 call.

The first call listed on Jones' phone records for that day was a call from Sam Brown, KPD liaison to the UT football team.

After a roughly two-minute conversation with Brown, Jones called Johnson at 8:22 a.m. and then again at 8:26 a.m., when they spoke for about four minutes. The records show six calls between the pair that day and no further calls between Jones and Johnson through Dec. 1.

Jones called Brown back at 8:30 a.m. for a roughly three-minute call.

Brown has worked as liaison between the department and the football team for 20 years and has no role in discipline matters, KPD spokesman Darrell DeBusk said. The job includes working security and facilitating communication between police and UT officials, DeBusk said.

Rausch called Jones for the first time that day at 8:38 a.m. That call lasted about five minutes. Their calls that day ranged from two to eight minutes.

On the following day, there were five calls between Rausch and Jones. On Nov. 18, the records list one call that lasted about 16 minutes.

Jones echoed Rausch's comments in a statement also released when the phone records were obtained.

"We have as many conversations as needed with players, parents, law enforcement, whomever until we can be sure that we are making the best decision possible," Jones said. "These are decisions that can be life-changing for these individuals. After taking into account all the information we could gather in this case, we made the decision to suspend two student athletes from the team immediately."

In the days immediately after the accusation, Jones would not say when or how he learned of the rape investigation.

The records also show repeated calls between Jones and UT athletic director Dave Hart, player Curt Maggitt and various members of the football staff, starting with an 8:33 a.m. call from Jones to UT executive senior associate athletics director Jon Gilbert.

The records show no calls between the coach and Williams, the second player accused of rape, on the day of the accusation or through Dec. 1.

Johnson and Williams were suspended from the team the day of the rape accusation and never returned to the squad. They face charges of aggravated rape and of aiding and abetting aggravated rape. Their criminal trials are on hold.