Pigeon Forge Police Department

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Pigeon Forge Police Department
PFPD
Jurisdiction	City of Pigeon Forge
Sworn	54
Non-sworn	12
Stations	1
Chief	Jack H. Baldwin

The Pigeon Forge Police Department, sometimes referred to as "PFPD", is the primary law enforcement organization serving Pigeon Forge, Tennessee in the United States.

According to its website, "applying technology to law enforcement has been a primary goal of the Pigeon Forge Police Department, second only to the application of the community policing philosophy."^[1] In addition to the department's publicized application of technology, the police department has specialized units and organization, which is notable considering the city of Pigeon Forge only has approximately 5,000 people. The department is notable among police departments in Tennessee for having a Tactical Response Unit, a type of SWAT rescue team that is typically found in police departments of larger cities. The police run Citizen Police Academy is noteworthy.

The current Chief of Police is Jack H. Baldwin.^[1]

1 Growth of Pigeon Forge
2 Personnel
3 Specialized units
4 Crime data
5 Recent history
6 Citizen Police Academy
7 Museum
8 External links
9 References

[edit] Growth of Pigeon Forge

Colonel Samuel Wear, a Revolutionary War veteran who fought at the Battle of Kings Mountain, helped establish a military post at Walden’s Creek around 1781, which is currently a historical site in Pigeon Forge.^[2] By 1907, the unincorporated village only had a population of 154. The village was not incorporated into a town until 1961.^[2] Compared to 30 years ago when there were only two stoplights on Highway 441, the main city street, the Parkway, as it is now called, has six lanes of traffic and multiple stoplights. The growth of the city coincides with the establishment of the Dollywood theme park, named after singer Dolly Parton in 1981. This and other attractions, such as singer Louise Mandrell's theater, results in the city having 11 million tourists a year.^[2] This growth has resulted in the Pigeon Force Police Department having a large force compared to the resident population as well as the establishment of several specialized departments within the police department.

[edit] Personnel

The Pigeon Force Police Department has 66 employees, of which 54 are police officers.^[3] The Patrol Division is assigned 21 officers.^[4]

[edit] Specialized units

[edit] Tactical Rescue Unit (TRU)

The police department is unusual in that a force of this size has a special SWAT team called the Tactical Rescue Unit. The units formal purpose is to be "deployed in those situations or events which by their nature are more dangerous or hazardous to officers than the majority of calls for police action, and which may constitute or contribute to grave peril to the public."^[5] At least two years of department service and completion the basic training test is required for induction into the unit. Their job is potentially very dangerous given the situations that SWAT teams of other cities have encountered.^[6]^[7] They are trained in the arts of hostage rescuing, situations involving barricaded gunmen, sniper fire, etc.^[5]

[edit] Criminal Investigations Division

The unit consists of 6 investigators. It consists of a supervisor, three investigators, juvenile officer, and a crime scene technician. Officers are sometimes assigned to the Drug Task Force and Street Crimes Task Force.

[edit] Other units

The bicycle unit consists of six officers. It has an open presence to help deter crime. It also teaches bicycle safety.^[8]
A Motorcycle Patrol Unit, currently consisting of 10 officers.
The Traffic Division, currently consisting of 16 officers. It uses materiel and manpower from the bicycle and motorcycle patrol units, in addition to other units.
Operations Support Division^[9]

[edit] Crime data

From 2001-2004, there were no murders and between 4 and 6 robberies per year in the city. There were 78 to 198 burglaries during each of those years during that period.^[10]

[edit] Recent history

The department has been characterized by at least one defense attorney that the PFPD is unreliable in making video recordings of the administration of their breath tests. ^[11] However, it must be noted that such report was part of an attorney's advertisement and may not be an unbiased characterization.

In 2006, the Pigeon Forge Police department was involved in a case where an amusement park manager was accused of murder. The trial was reported by U.S. cable TV station, CourtTV. ^[12] The accused man was eventually convicted of reckless homocide, instead. ^[13]

[edit] Citizen Police Academy

The police department operates a citizen police academy, established in 1998, which holds weekly evening classes for four months each year. The program seeks to educate the public about police duties. The curriculum includes having pupils ride with police officers on patrols. However, completion of the course does not grant certification to become a police officer.^[14]

[edit] Museum

The police department has retired police equipment on display among the 5,000 displayed items at the Carbo's Police Museum in Pigeon Force. However, the museum is privately owned and not operated by the department.^[15]^[16]^[17]

[edit] External links

government link Pigeon Forge Police Department Homepage
photo of police department headquarters [1]
photo of Tactical Response Unit [2]

[edit] References