KNOXVILLE, Tenn — On Wednesday, the Knoxville Police Department hosted its first "Ask KPD" Facebook Live. Members of the public submitted questions to Police Chief Eve Thomas, and the department answered them on their Facebook page.
Many questions focused on the recent violent crime in Knoxville. But for some questions, there were no answers.
At the beginning of the event, PARC Executive Director LaKenya Middlebrook welcomed viewers and said questions relating to any ongoing investigation could not be answered during the livestream.
Middlebrook also promised submitters would get a private response from someone with KPD in the coming days.
Opening up the conversation between KPD and the public is a rare opportunity, especially during the pandemic. Public community meetings decreased over the past year due to restrictions on large gatherings.
According to KPD spokesperson Scott Erland, the department wanted to create another space where it could speak directly to the community and make the chief a little more available for the citizens of Knoxville.
The inaugural event comes during a week when two juveniles were charged and appeared in court for the murder of Stanley Freeman Jr.
While the chief answered no questions about that investigation, others begged for info about the recent violent crimes in the city.
One question asked how people could know if anonymity would be kept when submitting a tip about a crime.
Chief Eve Thomas said the department has no problem taking anonymous tips. However, she also said she wants the public to understand a warrant or arrest may not be able to happen immediately if the person wants to stay anonymous.
"Getting that information gives us another avenue to look down for forensics or any other things, so that's why we want as many anonymous tips as we can get," Thomas said.
Another question from the community asked whether or not there is a gang task force at the police department.
"We do have a gang intelligence, I'd like to assign more people to it," Thomas said. "So generally, our Organized Crime Unit are all aware of our gang intelligence."
So far in 2021, the Knoxville Police Department has had 107 shots fired calls, 14 of which were homicides.
It's a worrying trend for many, compared to the 33 homicides in which shots were fired reported in all of 2020.
One thing is for certain after the livestream ended — the community wants answers and is hungry for new information.
KPD says it is planning more Facebook Live events in the future. Find out when those are happening by following along on the department's Facebook page.
Investigators are also still looking for tips for recent violent crimes. If you have one, give them a call at 865-215-7212.