Six deputies received traffic safety awards for the Middle Region of the Tennessee Highway Safety Office during a lunch Tuesday in Bell Buckle. Field Training Officer Deputy Michael Bennett received the Beyond the Traffic Stop Award for a stop of a 15-year-old driver leading to the recovery of stolen handguns from a gun store in…
Rutherford County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Keith Lowery earned his Emergency Number Professional Certification from the National Emergency Number Association. ENP Certification establishes the benchmarks of performance to signify broad-based competence in the field. Earning the certification: Demonstrates mastery of the comprehensive knowledge base required for emergency number program management. Helps raise industry standards and increase…
Twenty-three Re-Entry Program participants at the Rutherford County Adult Detention Center received a 10-hour OSHA training provided by the Tennessee College of Applied Technology and earned Department of Labor-issued cards proving they are trained in work-place safety. The Re-Entry program, a subsection of the Rutherford County Recovery Courts, partners with organizations such as TCAT to…
Four Rutherford County Sheriff’s deputies earned awards for removing intoxicated and impaired drivers off the roadways in 2023. Mothers Against Drunk Driving presented the awards to Middle Tennessee law enforcement officers during their annual awards recognition ceremony Friday. Cpl. Zack Williams, Deputy Michael Bennett, Deputy Steve Hill and Deputy Tyler Marks received the awards from…
Jennie Griffin learned about Hurricane Helene devastation on East Tennessee residents from her son, Tennessee Highway Patrol Trooper Tyler Griffin who is helping with recovery efforts. Jennie Griffin, who is an instructional coach at Rockvale Elementary School, felt compelled to act. “I felt our community and school could do something to partner with THP to…
Two Rutherford County Sheriff’s Adult Detention Center deputies earned top honors at the annual Tennessee Corrections Institute conference last week. Sgt. Adam Sowden received the State Corrections Officer of the Year award and Field Training Officer John Elliott received the Middle Tennessee Correction Officer of the Year award. The awards were presented during TCI’s Jail…
“Unsung heroes” worked inside the burning Pentagon building to maintain critical communications after the 9-11 terrorists’ attacks Sept. 11, 2001, said USAF Ret. Col. Thomas Hickerson. “This is the story of the front line of the first battle of the war on terrorism,” Hickerson said during the keynote address Wednesday at the Rutherford County Sheriff’s…
Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office captured the “Sheriff’s Office of the Year” award at the annual Tennessee Highway Safety Officer’s Lifesavers Conference Friday in Franklin. The Sheriff’s Office also earned first place honors in the Law Enforcement Challenge in the 201-500 officers’ category. Sheriff Mike Fitzhugh said he was proud of the outstanding work of the…
Two Rutherford County Sheriff’s deputies earned Life Saving Awards for providing emergency care to a father and daughter severely injured during a boating crash June 8 on Percy Priest Lake. Deputies Chris Beach and Brandon Lorden received the awards. Patrol Capt. Chris Kauffman reported several bystanders applied a tow rope as a temporary tourniquet to…
Rutherford County was ranked No. 1 for speeding-related crashes from 2019 to 2023 in Tennessee, based on the Tennessee Highway Patrol’s crash data, said Sheriff Mike Fitzhugh. Speeding was listed as the contributing factor in one traffic death and 282 crashes this year in the county, the sheriff said. Five people died in speeding-related crashes…