Tennessee Highway Patrol

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Tennessee Highway Patrol
Tennessee Highway Patrol patch
Tennessee Highway Patrol patch
Agency overview
Formed 1929
Preceding Agency Tennessee State Police 1927-1929
Jurisdiction State of Tennessee
Headquarters Nashville, Tennessee
Agency Executive Mike Walker, Colonel
Parent agency Department of Safety
Website
http://tn.gov/safety/thp.htm

The Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) is the highway patrol agency for the U.S. state of Tennessee, responsible for enforcing all federal and state laws relating to traffic on the state's federal and state highways. It is a component of the Department of Safety.

The THP provides assistance to motorists who need help. It investigates traffic accidents involving property damage, personal injury, or death. THP works with prosecutors in the prosecution of cases in which the use of drugs or alcohol contributed to accidents causing personal injury or fatalities. In addition to traffic law enforcement it has responsibilities in criminal interdiction, which involves the suppression of narcotics on the state's roads and highways, including Interstate Highways.

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[edit] History

The THP was formed in 1929 as a component of the new Tennessee State Police Force, which was patterned after the Texas Rangers.[1]

[edit] Organizational structure and personnel

The head of the THP is Colonel Mike Walker, who has served with the organization since 1977.[2] THP field operations are organized geographically into eight districts, each with a district headquarters. The organization also has a substation in each of the state's 95 counties.[3] As of September 2007, the THP was authorized to have up to 947 commissioned officers.[4]

THP's Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division operates five inspection sites around the state. Its enforcement activities include inspections of commercial vehicles and driver logs, highway patrols with a focus on traffic violations by trucks, and weighing of commercial vehicles, both at permanent inspection stations on Interstate highways and with portable scales.[5]

[edit] Fallen officers

Since the organization was established, 38 members of the Tennessee Highway Patrol have died in the line of duty. [6]

Officer Date of Death Details
Trooper Charles Hash
April 11, 1930
Killed while operating a motorcycle in Memphis
Trooper Walter Jones
July 31, 1933
Killed while operating a motorcycle in Nashville
Trooper Lee Lovelace
February 3, 1934
Killed in a motorcycle accident
Trooper Clovis Cole
May 2, 1934
Killed in a motorcycle accident in Union City
Trooper Ed Kennedy
August 22, 1934
Killed in an automobile accident in Crab Orchard
Trooper Lindsey Smith
December 17, 1934
Killed by a gunshot wound in Tullahoma
Trooper Earl Hicks
June 17, 1936
Killed in a motorcycle accident in Knox County
Trooper Paul Summers
August 8, 1936
Killed in a motorcycle accident in Nashville
Trooper Carl Hickman
September 15, 1937
Killed in a motorcycle accident in Athens
Trooper Lewis Boone
October 18, 1938
Killed in a motorcycle accident in Pigeon Forge
Trooper Charles Gearhiser
November 12, 1938
Killed in a motorcycle accident in Dyer County
Trooper William Howard James
September 14, 1942
Killed in a motorcycle accident in Murfreesboro
Trooper James Williams
January 1, 1943
Killed in a motorcycle accident in Murfreesboro
Trooper William Crutcher
August 3, 1944
Killed in a motorcycle accident in Bordeaux
Staff Sergeant Fred Cole Woldrop
April 1, 1950
Killed in an automobile accident in Goodlettsville
Sergeant Oliver Devard Williamson
April 6, 1952
Killed during a tornado in Brownsville
Trooper Oscar Newton Morris
May 9, 1956
Killed by being struck by an automobile
Trooper Raymond Hendon
June 3, 1957
Killed in an automobile accident in Smyrna
Trooper Edward Jowers
August 3, 1962
Killed in an automobile accident in Memphis
Trooper Kenneth Moore
February 2, 1964
Suffered a heart attack
Trooper Joseph Emanuel Dillard
September 15, 1964
Killed in an automobile accident in Medina
Trooper William Gordon Barnes
January 22, 1966
Killed in an automobile accident
Trooper Michael Theodore Dafferner
April 6, 1966
Killed in an automobile accident in Knoxville
Lieutenant Samual W. Gibbs
August 27, 1966
Killed by a gunshot wound in Shelbyville
Trooper Eugene Brakebill
October 9, 1966
Suffered a heart attack while in pursuit of a car
Trooper Roy Alford Mynatt
February 11, 1968
Killed in an automobile accident in Rockwood
Trooper C. B. Martin
May 4, 1969
Killed in an automobile accident in Sparta
Trooper Samuel F. Holcomb, Jr.
March 27, 1988
Hit by a vehicle on I-40
Officer Michael Lloyd Rector
May 31, 1990
Shot during an undercover investigation
Trooper Douglas Wayne Tripp
May 19, 1991
Shot during a traffic stop
Trooper George Van Dorse Holcomb
January 26, 1992
Hit by a tractor trailer while at the scene of an accident
Sergeant James David Perry
October 3, 1999
Suffered a heart attack while in foot pursuit
Trooper Bobby J. Maples
November 5, 1999
Suffered a heart attack while assisting a motorist
Trooper Lynn McCarthy Ross
July 26, 2000
Killed when a tractor trailer struck vehicle
Trooper John Gregory Mann
January 1, 2001
Struck by a vehicle during a foot pursuit
Trooper John Robert Davis
March 17, 2001
Killed in an automobile accident
Trooper Todd Michael Larkins
July 8, 2005
Struck by a tractor trailer during a traffic stop
Trooper Calvin Wayne Jenks
January 6, 2007
Shot during a traffic stop

[edit] References

[edit] See also

[edit] External links