7 WOMEN COMPLAINED ABOUT DISMISSED DEA AGENT

A former Drug Enforcement Administration agent hired by Metro police
was accused of making obscene remarks and sexually explicit
suggestions to seven women before he was dismissed by the DEA.

Metro police Sgt. Gary Shoats, then a special agent in the DEA and
now accused of harassing a Metro officer, used profanity and sexually
explicit language with female agents whether he knew them or not,
according to sworn testimony.

According to sworn statements, he asked to see their breasts,
embarrassed them in front of co-workers and uttered sexual innuendo.
The statements were reviewed by an administrative judge with the
Merit Protection Board in Atlanta who was considering Shoats' appeal
of his firing by the DEA. The judge upheld the firing.

Metro police spokesman Don Aaron has said that Shoats told department
officials he had been fired for sexual harassment but was appealing
the decision and that he convinced officials here that he would
prevail.

Police have said they gave Shoats the benefit of the doubt, although
they did not know details of the DEA accusations against him. Also,
they hired him because he was a good employee when he worked for
Metro police before going to the DEA.

''There was an effort by the police department in 1995 to learn the
details surrounding his discharge from the DEA,'' Aaron said.
''However, that effort was not successful.''

He said he didn't know what steps officials took at that time to
learn about the DEA complaints.

Shoats first joined Metro police in May 1987; he left the department
in May 1988 in good standing and was rehired by Metro in February
1996.

It was only recently that police - while investigating Shoats in
connection with accusations that he sexually harassed Metro Officer
Kimberly Collins - discovered the extent of the DEA charges against
him.

Shoats was brought up on internal Metro police charges last week.
Police also are investigating whether his boss at the School Services
Division, Capt. Luther Hunter, tried to cover up Collins' allegations
of harassment.

Neither Shoats nor Hunter could be reached for comment last night.

Aaron said he couldn't say whether Metro police would have rehired
Shoats had they known that seven women made claims against him at the
DEA.

''Because of the pending disciplinary matter, I can't speak
specifically to Sgt. Shoats' situation,'' Aaron said. ''What I can
say is that if this police department is aware of founded sexual
harassment complaints against a prospective employee, no, that
individual would not be hired.''

The administrative judge of the Merit Protection Board, who upheld
the DEA's dismissal in October 1997, said he found the evidence
against Shoats convincing.

Judge Stuart A. Miller wrote: ''(Shoats') pattern of sexual vulgarity
illustrated in this case, in conjunction with all of the evidence,
reflects that he has no potential for rehabilitation.''

Metro police investigators were given a copy of Miller's decision
during their inquiry into Collins' allegations, Aaron said.

''We were not aware of the details that wound up being reduced to
writing in the decision issued by the federal government before
1997,'' he said.

One local activist for women's rights said Metro police should have
tried harder to learn the details of the DEA accusations before
rehiring Shoats.

''It doesn't seem like a good-faith effort was made to check this
fellow out,'' said Cynthia Bennett, president of the Tennessee
National Organization for Women. ''I think they should have further
investigated.''

The department, Bennett said, has come a long way under Metro Police
Chief Emmett Turner and Deputy Police Chief Deborah Faulkner in terms
of its treatment of female officers and women in the community.
However, this incident reminded her of another time in Nashville, she
said.

''They gave him the benefit of the doubt,'' she said. ''This smacks
of good ol' boys.''