The Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) is the State Patrol organization 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. The agency was created to protect the lives, property, and constitutional rights of people in Tennessee. The THP is a division of the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security.
The Tennessee Highway Patrol provides assistance to motorists who need help. It investigates traffic accidents involving property damage, personal injury, or death. The agency 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, the Tennessee Highway Patrol has responsibility in criminal interdiction, which involves the suppression of narcotics on the state's roads and highways, including Interstate Highways. It is the agency responsible for conducting background checks on applicants for permits to carry handguns.
History
The Tennessee Highway Patrol came into existence on December 14, 1929, to replace the unpopular Tennessee State Police Force, which had been created in 1926 and had been patterned after the Texas Rangers to obtain fees and taxes from citizens.[4][5] In 1957, the Tennessee Highway Patrol became the first police agency in the United States to utilize helicopters in patrol work.[5]
Administration
The head of the Tennessee Highway Patrol is Colonel Matt Perry, who has served with the organization since 2004 and has served as the head of Tennessee Highway Patrol since December 2020.[6][7] The THP is headquartered in Nashville, the state capital. The agency's field operations are organized geographically into eight districts, each with a district headquarters and a varying number of troops (stations that are usually grouped with adjacent counties). As of September 2007, the Tennessee Highway Patrol was authorized to have up to 947 commissioned troopers.[8]
The Tennessee Highway Patrol operates six inspection sites around the state, in Districts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7. The Tennessee Highway Patrol's enforcement activities at the inspection sites, also called scale complexes, include inspections of commercial vehicles and driverlogs, 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.[9]
Organization
The Tennessee Highway Patrol is organized into eight districts, which have a district headquarters, a varying number of troops, and county facilities. The table below indicates the district, the troops in each region, the counties in each district and troop, and the locations of the district headquarters and inspection facilities (called scale complexes). With the extensive coverage of THP facilities, the Tennessee Highway Patrol therefore has a presence in each of Tennessee's 95 counties.[10]
THP districts with their constituent troops and scale complexes
The Criminal Investigation Division of the Tennessee Highway Patrol investigates, gathers evidence, and assists federal, state, and local law enforcement, when requested. It also handles background checks for handgun carry permits.
Handgun Carry Permits
Identity Theft Information
Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division
The Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division of the Tennessee Highway Patrol inspects commercial vehicles and driver logs, weighs commercial vehicles, and patrols highways with a focus on truck traffic violations. Troop S in District 3 conducts all the below programs in addition to the D.A.R.E. program:
District Offices
New Entrant Program
A.C.E.S.
Pupil Transportation
Special Operations Unit
The Special Operations Unit of the Tennessee Highway Patrol consists of four specialized sections:
Aviation section, which comprises four pilots, one mechanic, five Jet Ranger helicopters, and one Huey UH-1H,
Tactical/Scuba divers/Bomb Squad,
K-9 section, and
the Governor's Task Force on Marijuana Eradication.
Facility Protection Unit
Uniform and equipment
The design of the shoulder patch of the THP is unique, as it is the only State Police shoulder patch to identify the admittance of the state into the Union. Tennessee was the 16th state admitted in the Union; therefore the shoulder patch has a Roman numeral 16 displayed on it.
The uniform of the THP consists of a tan uniform shirt with forest green epaulets and pocket flaps. Long sleeves with a forest green tie is worn during the winter months while short sleeves with an open collar is worn during the summer months. Collar ornaments that have the letters "T.H.P" are worn on the collars of both seasonal uniform shirts. The uniform pant is forest green with a wide black stripe. The uniform hat is a forest green campaign style hat. A felt version is worn with the winter uniform while a straw version is worn with the summer uniform. A miniaturized version of the breast badge is worn as a hat badge while higher ranks display their insignia of rank on the uniform hat. A silver or gold (Depending on Rank) cord with acorns is worn at the base of the hat.
The THP utilizes a unique duty belt. Instead of the standard 2+1⁄4-inch-wide (5.7 cm) duty belt worn by most agencies, the THP utilizes a 3-inch-wide (7.6 cm) clarino (Patent High Gloss) leather duty belt, creating a distinctive look. All other accessories on the belt are also clarino and feature hidden snap closures. The belt buckle is silver for troopers and gold for higher ranks.
The issued sidearm for THP Troopers is the Glock Model 45 chambered in 9x19mm. Also THP troopers wear bulletproof vests under their uniform shirt. Less lethal weapons issued to troopers include OC Pepper Spray and the Expandable Straight Baton.Troopers are also issued the Glock model 43x as a backup weapon. In 2023, the Tennessee Highway Patrol began fielding the Axon Taser X7 for duty use.
Fallen officers
Since the organization was established, 44 members of the Tennessee Highway Patrol have died in the line of duty.[19]
Officer
Date of death
Details
Charles Hash
April 11, 1930
Killed while operating a motorcycle in Memphis
Walter Jones
July 31, 1933
Killed while operating a motorcycle in Nashville
Lee Lovelace
February 3, 1934
Killed in a motorcycle accident
Clovis Cole
May 2, 1934
Killed in a motorcycle accident in Union City
Ed Kennedy
August 22, 1934
Killed in an automobile accident in Crab Orchard
Lindsey Smith
December 17, 1934
Killed by a gunshot wound in Tullahoma
Earl Hicks
June 17, 1936
Killed in a motorcycle accident in Knox County
Paul Summers
August 8, 1936
Killed in a motorcycle accident in Nashville
Carl Hickman
September 15, 1937
Killed in a motorcycle accident in Athens
Lewis Boone
October 18, 1938
Killed in a motorcycle accident in Pigeon Forge
Charles Gearhiser
November 12, 1938
Killed in a motorcycle accident in Dyer County
William Howard James
September 14, 1942
Killed in a motorcycle accident in Murfreesboro
James Williams
January 1, 1943
Killed in a motorcycle accident in Murfreesboro
William Crutcher
August 3, 1944
Killed in a motorcycle accident in Bordeaux
Fred Cole Waldrop
April 1, 1950
Killed in an automobile accident in Goodlettsville
Oliver Devard Williamson
April 6, 1952
Killed during a tornado in Brownsville
Oscar Newton Morris
May 9, 1956
Killed by being struck by an automobile
Raymond Hendon
June 3, 1957
Killed in an automobile accident in Smyrna
Edward Jowers
August 3, 1962
Killed in an automobile accident in Memphis
Kenneth Moore
February 2, 1964
Suffered a heart attack
Joseph Emanuel Dillard
September 15, 1964
Killed in an automobile accident in Medina
William Gordon Barnes
January 22, 1966
Killed in an automobile accident
Michael Theodore Dafferner
April 6, 1966
Killed in an automobile accident in Knoxville
Samual W. Gibbs
August 27, 1966
Killed by a gunshot wound in Shelbyville
Eugene Brakebill
October 9, 1966
Suffered a heart attack while in pursuit of a car
Roy Alford Mynatt
February 11, 1968
Killed in an automobile accident in Rockwood
C. B. Martin
May 4, 1969
Killed in an automobile accident in Sparta
Paul L. Mooneyham, Sr
April 4, 1981
Suffered a heart attack
Samuel F. Holcomb, Jr.
March 27, 1988
Hit by a vehicle on I-40
Michael Lloyd Rector
May 31, 1990
Shot during an undercover investigation
Douglas Wayne Tripp
May 19, 1991
Shot during a traffic stop
George Van Dorse Holcomb
January 26, 1992
Hit by a tractor trailer while at the scene of an accident
James David Perry
October 3, 1999
Suffered a heart attack while in foot pursuit
Bobby J. Maples
November 5, 1999
Suffered a heart attack while assisting a motorist
Lynn McCarthy Ross
July 26, 2000
Killed when a tractor trailer struck vehicle
John Gregory Mann
January 1, 2001
Struck by a vehicle during a foot pursuit
John Robert Davis
March 17, 2001
Killed in an automobile accident
Todd Michael Larkins
July 8, 2005
Struck by a tractor trailer during a traffic stop
Calvin Wayne Jenks
January 6, 2007
Shot during a traffic stop
Andrew Thomas Wall
May 7, 2011
Killed in a motorcycle accident in Smyrna
Michael Wayne Slagle
January 25, 2013
Killed in a vehicle crash and suffered heart attack.
Matthew Elias Gatti
May 6, 2019
Killed in a vehicle crash while responding to a car fire in Nashville
Vince Arnold Mullins
January 28, 2022
COVID-19
Harold Lee Russell, II
August 23, 2022
Killed in a helicopter accident on Athena Mountain