Gatlinburg - Unication

[INDY72]

Um, we don't have a state police here. Perhaps you meant what they call the department of safety and homeland security (used to be highway patrol), or the bureau of investigation?

So, whats the livery on the tan and brown cars say now? Have they switched to the car length labeling or still State Trooper and THP logos? Switched the THP badges to a big old PITA for that mouthful yet? Tennessee Highway Patrol THP is still THP, under the TDPS&HS flag. Still doing the same job they always have.

 

[KyFireFreak]

Um, we don't have a state police here. Perhaps you meant what they call the department of safety and homeland security (used to be highway patrol), or the bureau of investigation?

My apologies I wasn't absolutely correct. Where I come from we have state police who are troopers. The last time I saw one of the Tennessee state cars it said "State Trooper" under the state outline so I associate that with being state police, no matter what their called.

If you talk Department of Homeland Security" to me I associate that with being an emergency management type of agency, not a primarily law enforcement related agency. Apples to oranges...

 

[zachgallop]

We go to the Pigeon Forge / Gatlinburg area a few times a year. I always take my Unication G5 with me, at least. I will scan TACN while traveling to there and while in Pigeon Forge. You can hear the State Police as well as Pigeon Forge PD fine, as well as a few other things. Isn't Pigeon Forge Fire switching to TACN sometime soon?

As far as I know Pigeon Forge Fire is not going to TACN. I have not heard anything about that. They were buying still buying UHF Nexedge Radios from Land Air not that long ago according to some city council minutes.Sevier Central 911 Dispatch dispatches them and as far as I know the only digital equipment they have is for nexedge. However they may have p25 equipment for the park service, Gatlinburg Police Dispatch (500) does but for dispatching park service after hours. I know Sevier County EMA has some radios on TACN. I would say if they ever do go to TACN, Pigeon Forge Police Dispatch (700) would start dispatching their agency instead of central.

 

[surfacemount]

So, whats the livery on the tan and brown cars say now? Have they switched to the car length labeling or still State Trooper and THP logos? Switched the THP badges to a big old PITA for that mouthful yet? Tennessee Highway Patrol THP is still THP, under the TDPS&HS flag. Still doing the same job they always have.

I don't think there will be many more changes forthcoming to how the cars and uniforms look, but I'll ask next time I'm down there. I've heard that the COL is considering using the new Dept. of Safety and Homeland Security seals, though. Maybe a couple of other minor changes.

And, I agree, they basically continue to do the same job, patrolling the highway and conducting certain types of investigations. Tennessee still doesn't have a State Police, though.

My apologies I wasn't absolutely correct.

I'm not trying to be pedantic, but with the influx of yankees into the state, this is becoming a larger and larger issue. There is no State Police for them to call.

Where I come from we have state police who are troopers. The last time I saw one of the Tennessee state cars it said "State Trooper" under the state outline so I associate that with being state police, no matter what their called.

Yep, that's where the issue lies. There are many states (I've met several attending training) that have a State Police agency, with a department of that agency tasked with road patrol. So, being a statie means you could also be a trooper, but being a trooper doesn't always mean you are part of a state police agency. You don't call THP to do an intercounty investigation. You don't request a Trooper because there's an issue the Sheriff won't resolve to your liking.

Tennessee had a State Police force in the 20's. They were primarily assigned to collect fees and taxes, and got into so much crap, the agency wasn't just disbanded, it went completely out of existence.

Tennessee also has a Bureau of Investigation. They have nothing to do with TDoS&HS, for some well-deserved reasons.

Right now, they are all kind of angry at each other because there has been some elemental reorganization.

If you talk Department of Homeland Security" to me I associate that with being an emergency management type of agency, not a primarily law enforcement related agency. Apples to oranges...

I agree with the 'apples to oranges' part, but Federal DHS is way more law enforcement than it is emergency management. I think it's silly that states and counties and cities all hide under that title, but at those levels they are 99% EMA and Fire and EMS. It's confusing, and partially intentionally so. lol

 

[INDY72]

Its the same in LA with GOHSEP, IN with INDHS, and many states. DHS is mainly an EMA/OEM type of agency, but does also have its LEA side also. Both with the Fire Marshals part, and with actual special investigations under the Homeland Security part. In TN, TBI is under the big umbrella of TDPS/HS, but is its own division and does not yet know how to play nice with anyone else. Long history of issues there for sure. There has always been a little confusion with "Civil Defense" agencies and yes this was on purpose. There always have been hidden LE things involved. Even in the early days of "Investigating Possible Hostiles" in WWII... Up to the even more convoluted crud after the Patriot Act. THP is used in some areas where jurisdictions are shall we say blurry? Like unincorporated areas that have NO LEA coverage at all. Also if they are specifically called in by an SO/Municipality PD, and they do have special operations units that do a lot more than just patrol the roads. Go south to MS, and things get even more interesting with the division of tasks with MHP, MBI which work hand in hand, but are technically separate. Add in the confusion of MBN, which should have been really a true brother to MBI, but is its own special child. MDOT's LE Division for CVE. In both cases the "Highway Patrol" has cases where it is also a "State Police" agency as well as the jobs its name implies. go north to KY there is an actual State Police that also is the Highway Patrol, west there is AR again, actual State Police that is also the Highway Patrol. Same in LA. Also like in MS, AR has a division of ARDOT that does CVE, AND regular Highway Patrol duties called the Highway Police.... It can be confusing for ANYONE not in our hobby or legal beagle stuff. IMHO, it would be just common sense for all LEA's at the State level to streamline and be under a "State Police" with special divisions for each need. But the whole "My Pond" thing gets in the way.

 

[surfacemount]

TBI has been separate since March 27th, 1980. I only remember this because it's on the current shield lol:

Without getting too far astray of the thread, it had a lot to do with the director, Al Gore, and his uncle, Whit LaFon.

The THP/THP-CID, and TBI don't send each other Christmas cards. And now, Commerce and Insurance is mad, because the legislature stripped them of Bomb and Arson and put it where it should have been to begin with. It will be interesting to see where David takes all that.

 

[n4yek]

deleted

 

[W4EMS]

From the TBI webpage, it is a separate, independent department in the TN state government.

On March 14, 1951, Governor Gordon Browning signed a bill into law establishing the Tennessee Bureau of Criminal Identification (TBCI) as the "plainclothes" division of the Department of Safety. On March 27, 1980, following a series of legislative hearings, the organization was re-established as an independent agency and renamed the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI).
LINK

 

[surfacemount]

That's correct. It came about because of a lot of undue influence and straight up bad behavior, legislation got passed to create a standalone entity. Which then was co-opted, but that's not a radio story lol I will say, however, that the TBI is kind of unique in that a private citizen cannot go to them directly with a criminal complaint. And, getting any case information post- court via TPRA is about impossible.

They only had a few channels they worked off of, historically, and a handful of wire frequencies. Unsure about now, but the new place off Strawberry Plains is amazing. (I'd still like to know why they put it on the opposite side of the county, there's nothing out there)