Chattanooga Police Chief says tips were crucial in latest homicide investigation

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) – Chattanooga Police are investigating their first homicide in more than 2 months. Chattanooga Police are investigating their first homicide in more than 2 months.  They’ve made an arrest and Chattanooga Police Chief David Roddy is not only tooting the horn of his investigators but the community’s as well.

Chattanooga Police Chief Roddy says they will continue to remind the community that if you see it you should definitely say something because in cases like this one… it led to an arrest in less than 12 hours.

Roddy says, “It was outstanding teamwork and part of that team was a member of the community that started things in a certain direction.”

A direction that led police to take Jamaal Mayes into custody late Sunday night. Chattanooga Police arrested Hayes for killing Willie Bacon. The shooting happened at the intersection of East 11th and Baldwin Street around 7 pm Sunday.

Fire crews responded to a call about an unconscious person and they determined that the person was dead on the scene. Police say cases like this are why they won’t stop driving that message home to say something if you see ANYTHING.

“It’s what we’ve been looking for… it’s what we have already witnessed here in Chattanooga was a focused effort by our officers and investigators, the communities involved and what they knew might help us and then everybody working together to find a peaceful resolution and a suspect in custody,” says Roddy.

Right now you can reach out to police by phone.. email… Facebook or Twitter and they are working on the prototype for an app where reporting a crime will be at your fingertips.

Roddy says, “We are extremely excited about that with a level of law enforcement that most agencies aren’t in so that’s one of the values that we show is the aggressiveness of the police department and that progressive area is technology.”

Roddy says in his 20+ years with the department the community’s involvement has always been crucial.

“Some individuals prefer an email, some prefer a phone, face to face communication or an app. Whichever way that our community can see what we are doing and communicate to us what their needs are and how we can meet them, just helps us be better at our jobs,” Roddy says.

No word on where the app will be finalized. No word on where the app will be finalized.

As for the suspect in the latest homicide, Mayes is being held on a 900 thousand dollar bond.