Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon announced Thursday the end of a months-long internal police investigation into allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct, a disciplinary process that reached into the highest levels of command.

Chief Eve Thomas and Deputy Chief Kenny Miller were among the three supervisors and one officer who were disciplined. Three other police supervisors have resigned.

The allegations came to light in July through Knox News reporting about a series of corroborated audio and video recordings detailing lewd behavior by officers and laid out in an internal complaint by Lt. Travis Brasfield, who filed a complaint that asserts top police officials tried to sweep misconduct under the rug. In all, Knox News published 14 stories about police misconduct and the investigation.

Kincannon and Thomas took turns at Thursday's press conference defending the department and both reiterated their view that the Knoxville Police Department does not have a culture problem.

"I don’t believe that there’s any idea that this is OK," Thomas said. "I think people make mistakes. Our mistakes are very public, where in other professions they are not public ... We hire from the human race, as my predecessor (current Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director David Rausch) said.”

Kincannon explained the disciplinary actions at the press conference, saying the city is committed to a path that allows police employees to report misconduct. "We stand here to tell you that no one, no matter the rank, is above the law," she said.

Disciplinary action

Police Chief Eve Thomas was given "verbal counseling" by Kincannon for failing to immediately disclose the allegations to the city Law Department and Civil Service Department.

Deputy Chief Kenny Miller and Capt. Tony Willis were given written reprimands. Willis was also transferred to another unit, though Thomas said it was unrelated.

Lt. Kenneth Brian Bush resigned Wednesday night. He supervised the squad and was found to have lied to investigators.

Officer Tyler Wiggins, who recorded and shared the video, was suspended without pay for eight days

One of the officers, Bobby Maxwell previously resigned after Brasfield — his direct supervisor — filed his complaint with the department's internal affairs unit.

Brasfield resigned soon after, saying he was harassed and retaliated against. The actions taken against him, he said at the time, will discourage other department employees from reporting inappropriate or criminal behavior.

The video obtained by Knox News showed Maxwell drawing a picture on a whiteboard of a woman performing oral sex on a man and making vulgar comments during roll call.

Investigators said Brasfield withheld information and that his lack of cooperation "hindered and delayed" the investigation.

Brasfield’s lawyer, John Valliant, told Knox News on Thursday that Knoxville police whitewashed the results of the investigation and had the wrong focus. He said they continued to ask to speak with Brasfield, who also has a law degree, after he had given them a three-hour statement and a detailed written account.

“Instead of investigating where the information came from, investigate the information," Valliant said. "If you don’t want to explore wrongdoing in your ranks, try to blame it on someone else,” he said, referring to the investigative strategy.

“This is all they can do because they don’t want to answer to the allegations of what the problems (within the department) are,” he continued. “So, they’re going to say they can’t pursue it because Travis won't cooperate.

"But once someone knows everything they know, what else can you tell them?”

Discipline details

Chief Thomas

Thomas originally followed protocol when handling an anonymous complaint that alleged misdeeds in the department, but her "failure to specifically direct that the complaint immediately be forwarded law and civil service departments was a violation of policy," Kincannon said Thursday.

Thomas said she has learned from her mistake.

“Well, I’m not happy,” she said with a small laugh. “But I think it’s appropriate. I made a mistake. I’ve learned from that mistake the same as I expect the officers that I’ve disciplined to learn from their mistakes and not make that mistake again.”

Deputy Chief Miller

Miller was given a written reprimand for failing to document to internal affairs his handling of a complaint that alleged an officer engaged in an inappropriate sexual relationship.

After reporting about the roll call video, Knox News reported that Miller downplayed and didn’t investigate it. In an audio recording of a June 20 meeting reviewed by Knox News, Miller said he was "trying to give everyone autonomy to run their districts and their squads as they see fit within reason.

More:KPD lieutenant says commanders 'conspired to conceal facts' about sergeant's sexist conduct

"That’s what makes this job fun, is the autonomy to do the things you want to do as long as we get to the same desired result we may not all get there the same way."

Later, he expressed concern that someone may “go to the damn Sentinel and WBIR” with copies of the video.

“In my mind it’s over, but it may have a mind of its own,” he said. “We’ll see. I mean, Bob (Maxwell) does a good job. He’s got those (guys) ready to go.”

Capt. Willis

Willis was given two written reprimands, one for his handling of a complaint that alleged an officer engaged in an inappropriate sexual relationship, and another for inappropriate comments about women. He was recorded saying "estrogen poisons and destroys the logic center of the brain. All reason is abolished. It’s gone. This is science, not speculation.”

Willis also incorrectly handled a performance evaluation.

Lt. Bush

Bush resigned Wednesday prior to his disciplinary hearing, but the investigation found he lied under oath in separate interviews with investigators about his knowledge of the roll call video.

Investigators said Bush had no role in the inappropriate behavior or in the making of the video, but he failed to report it's existence and his knowledge of its contents as required by policy.

Bush did not return a call seeking comment Thursday.

Officer Wiggins

Wiggins was suspended without pay for eight days for secretly recording the video, a code of conduct violation, according to the mayor's news release. Wiggins told investigators he did it as a joke, then sent the video to Bush and, later, after his supervisors began looking into Maxwell’s behavior, to Brasfield.

More training coming

Thomas said the department has implemented new sexual harassment and harassment prevention training, among others, that the department will implement because of the investigation.

Every member of the department, both sworn officers and civilian employees, will be required to take the training (which is still be developed). Thomas said harassment training has been added to their annual in-service training as well.

Thomas also said she spoke with each employee individually about the importance of identifying and reporting harassment.

Moving forward

Even as her chief, a deputy chief and multiple command staff were disciplined, Kincannon said she remained confident in the police department leadership.

"I have confidence that they are taking responsibility for these actions and they’ve had the consequences," she said. "I have confidence that they will be able to continue to lead KPD in a responsible way and are willing to admit when mistakes are made and change things."

Kincannon closed her opening remarks Thursday by praising the “many outstanding and selfless” officers who do their jobs under tremendous stress, but added that when individual officers act inappropriately, or don’t follow the correct protocol, “they have been and will be held accountable.”

Email Tyler Whetstone at tyler.whetstone@knoxnews.com and follow him on Twitter @tyler_whetstone. If you enjoy Tyler's coverage, support strong local journalism by subscribing for full access to all our content on every platform.