The investigation into Knoxville Police Chief Paul Noel started when a woman filed a complaint with police about the officer who was exchanging sexually provocative texts with Noel.
In a recorded interview with Sgt. Phyllis Tonkin of the department's Office of Professional Standards, the woman who filed the complaint brought up the inappropriate text messages between Noel and Reed and questioned whether she could trust the chief's judgment if he had to discipline patrol officer Jasmine Reed.
Noel has been suspended for one month without pay beginning Aug. 6 and must receive counseling before returning to his post. Reed remains employed by the department.
Jasmine Reed feared retaliation over previous affair with lieutenant
When questioned by independent investigator J. William Coley, an attorney who works at the
Knoxville law firm Hodges, Doughty and Carson, Reed said she felt compelled to reciprocate the chief's flirtatious messages because of his position of power and her belief Noel wanted her out of the department after because she had been investigated for having an affair with a since-retired lieutenant. Reed ultimately was suspended over the affair.
Reed pointed to a WBIR report featuring audio and video from her Office of Professional Standards interview as part of her claim she was being retaliated against after refusing a voluntary transfer. Reed also believed Noel wanted her transferred to prevent their text messages from becoming public.
Noel, in his interview with Coley, said he was surprised to hear Reed's assertion that the WBIR report was connected to retaliation. He thinks, according to the investigation report, the information was released to the news outlet in response to a public records request.
WBIR’s report detailed surveillance footage reviewed by investigators that showed Reed and Lt. Keith DeBow entering a storage closet at the department 37 times between late July and October 2024 – sometimes remaining there for as long as 30 minutes.
The relationship surfaced during a 2025 internal investigation after Reed reported receiving insulting text messages from a phone number belonging to DeBow.
Police investigators later determined the messages had been sent by DeBow's wife, Capt. Tammy DeBow. Both Reed and Tammy DeBow received 120-hour suspensions. The relationship between Reed and Keith DeBow lasted roughly three months, WBIR reported, and he had retired by the time the investigation began.
Coley ultimately concluded that evidence did not support Reed's belief that Noel was attempting to force her from the department or retaliating against her because of the text messages.
Officer Jasmine Reed built reputation through community policing
Reed, a patrol officer and field training officer, has been with the department for approximately six years.
KPD spokesperson Scott Erland, in an October 2023 profile story of Reed published by Knox TN Today, said the officer “has really done a great job of making connections and building community relationships in the Montgomery Village area, in particular.”
“Every aspect of the job is pretty cool,” Reed told the outlet. “Even the bad and tough parts teach you so much.”
Along with colleague Tyler Wiggins, Reed was named KPD’s Officer of the Month for December 2023 following multiple arrests stemming from her investigation into a stolen car.
"Officer Reed should be recognized for her persistence which resulted in the capture of a total of seven armed juveniles, six of whom were not residents of Knoxville,” Sgt. Michael Tucker, who nominated the pair, said in a February 2024 news release. “Given the nature of their behavior, it is likely that Officer Reed prevented a major crime from occurring.”
Reed, in her texts with Noel, shared her desire to join the mounted police unit. She ultimately decided not to pursue the horseback program so she could continue building her reputation as a patrol officer in Montgomery Village, a 380-unit public housing community in South Knoxville.
“I can find out anything I want in Montgomery Village because those people trust me so much,” she said in an April 8, 2025, text to Noel. “It took me two years to build that and I don’t see any other officers in MV specifically trying to build that. It would be selfish of me to walk away from that.”
The tone of the conversation shifted in subsequent text messages after Noel told Reed he was in Nashville for work.
“I’ll just tell ya next time if you need someone to get in trouble with while you are away I’m pretty good at that so holler at me,” Reed responded.
Noel, who said the idea “sounds intriguing."
Later in the conversation, Noel told Reed, "I play. I'm just careful."
Ryan Wilusz is the business growth and development editor for Knox News. Email: ryan.wilusz@knoxnews.com; Cell: 865-317-5138; Instagram: @knoxscruff.
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Knoxville police chief probe began with complaint against officer he texted
