Knoxville Police Chief Paul Noel knew his sexually charged text messages with a subordinate officer were a problem, and he tried to keep them secret by urging the woman to text to his personal phone and ultimately to delete the messages, according to a review of the messages by Knox News.
Mayor Indya Kincannon suspended Noel a month without pay Aug. 6 after reviewing an independent investigation the city commissioned into the text messages and Noel’s relationship with the patrol officer Jasmine Reed. She remains employed and is not facing disciplinary action. Both Noel and Reed told the investigator there was no kissing, touching or any sort of sexual relations between them.
Though he made his mark nationally in law enforcement circles for pushing policies that instruct officers to report misbehavior of their fellow officers, Noel didn’t follow his own mandate.
The independent investigator’s report – announced by Kincannon at an urgently called news conference Aug. 6 – found Noel violated five KPD policies: code of ethics, general responsibilities, unbecoming conduct, sexual misconduct and general misconduct.
The review also found he likely violated a sixth regarding the policy governing “respect between the ranks.”
Noel asked Reed to text his personal phone “in an effort to keep communication personal,” the independent investigation says. “There are no e-mails, written letters, social media, etc. of communication between he and (the officer).”
Whether the two switched to personal phones to communicate isn’t explained in the independent investigation, or how the investigation obtained dozens of screenshots of text messages between the two.
In one instance, Noel pressed Reed to delete the messages, a request he later told the investigator he made because the texts were “embarrassing and (would) reflect negatively” on him.
Noel and Reed texted in October about her traveling to an out-of-town police conference he would be attending in 2026. Noel joked that he knows the decision-maker for travel, a reference to himself.
Reed: “… I’m wild I know. You should know me well enough by now to know you don’t need a filter with me just speak your mind…that’s what I’m gonna do anyway lol” 
Noel: “You’re wild huh? And I’m free to speak my mind….?” 
Reed: “Absolutely”
Noel: “And that’s how I get in trouble”
Reed: “Yeah me too”
Noel: “Humm. I cant start any of that. Not me. And you need to delete all of this”
Reed: “I always do don’t worry about that”
Noel: “You sure”
Noel: “I appreciate that. Seriously”
Reed: “You don’t have to worry about me. I’m not an ass kisser and I’m not throwing anyone under the bus. What we discuss off duty is between us. No one else has any business knowing.”
Noel: “Good. Just know I can’t initiate anything like that.”
Noel: “I appreciate that. Seriously.”
The inappropriate conduct was revealed as KPD investigators were looking into an unrelated complaint filed against Reed. An acquaintance of Reed had filed the complaint, and revealed when she was interviewed by KPD investigators that Noel and Reed had exchanged inappropriate texts. The acquaintance told investigators she did not trust Noel to handle any discipline involving Reed, the report says. 
The independent investigator reported that Reed “recognized that Chief Noel was in a position of power, and she felt like she had to play along to avoid him being mad at her and potentially limiting her career.”
When Noel took over the department in 2022, KPD was dealing with massive accountability problems, and Kincannon hired him in large part because of his record as a national advocate for ethical policing.
This record included Noel receiving a national award in 2021 for his work on the Ethical Policing Is Courageous program, which teaches trainees how to speak with and stop colleagues or supervisors who are on the verge of violating agency policies or laws, according to NOLA.com. The program was part of federally mandated reforms by the department.
KPD adopted the program after Noel was hired.
Noel is paid just over $267,000 annually, and the suspension will cost him nearly $19,000 in salary.
Tyler Whetstone is an investigative reporter focused on accountability journalism. Email: [email protected]; X: @tyler_whetstone; Signal: twhetstone141924.39

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