The Knoxville Police Department serves as the local law enforcement agency for Knoxville, Tennessee. The KPD has its headquarters at 800 Howard Baker Jr. Ave, Knoxville, TN 37915. In their mission statement, from their official website at Knoxville Police Department home, they state:
“The Knoxville Police Department shall strive for excellence in performance and delivery of services to the total community. We will recruit, employ, and maintain personnel who reflect high professional standards. The quality of performance will be evaluated by Department standards established to measure overall effectiveness. As we look to the future, it will be in a progressive and flexible manner that will meet tomorrow’s community needs.”
Knoxville, Tennessee is split into two different districts by the department for its patrol services. The East Patrol District, headquartered at the Knoxville Center Mall, patrols approximately 51.57 square miles with boundaries defined by Interstate 75/275 to the west, Midway Road on the east, down south to Governor John Sevier Highway, and north to Emory Road. The West Patrol District serves an area approximately 50.95 square miles in size and includes the areas west of Interstate 75/275 and west of 11th St. to the development of Turkey Creek, located near Farragut. The West District also includes the University of Tennessee.
The Knoxville Police Department is composed of five main divisions. The Police Chief’s Office oversees the department’s activities and includes Internal Affairs and the Public Information Office. The Criminal Investigations Division is the investigative branch of the KPD and is subdivided into Crimes Against Persons, the Gang/Intelligence Unit, the Family Crimes Unit, the Forensics Unit, the Internet Crimes Against Children Unit, the Organized Crime Unit, the Property Crimes Unit, and Survey for Victims of Crime. The Management Division is made of the Accreditation Unit, the Audit & Inspection Detail, the Crime Analysis Unit (CAU), and a unit covering recruitment and employment. Field Operations, housing Patrol, accounts for nearly 72 percent of the sworn and civilian staff of the KPD and other than Patrol, has the Traffic Services Section and the Spec-Ops Section. The Patrol Districts each have a commander and eight patrol squads. Traffic Services houses the Motorcycle Unit, a Hit & Run Investigator and the city’s School Crossing Guards. Spec-Ops houses the Canine Unit, the Animal Control Unit, the Field Training Officer Program, the Explorer Unit, the Inspections Unit, the Knoxville Public Safety Collaborative (KPSC), the Knoxville Community Development Corporation (KCDC) Security Unit, the Teleserve Section, the Reserve Unit, and the Critical Incident Response Teams: Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) Mobile Field Force, Crisis Negotiations, and the Spec-Ops Squad (SOS/SWAT). The Support Services Division is the administrative division of the KPD and is composed of the Training Section, the Records Section, Central Supply, Volunteer Services, the Chaplain Corp, Retired Officers, the Internship Program and Technical Services.
Knoxville, Tennessee has a population estimated at 182,254 residents and on average experiences 14,490 crimes annually. Violent Crime comprises around 12 percent of them with murders amounted to 18 (0.10 per one thousand residents), rapes at 120 (0.66 per one thousand residents), robberies at 530 (2.91 per one thousand residents), & assaults at 1,114 (6.11 per one thousand residents) amounting to 1,782 violent crimes at an annual average (9.78 per one thousand residents). Property crimes account for the other 88%, burglaries being 2,917 (16.01 per one thousand residents), thefts at 8,863 (48.63 per one thousand residents) and motor vehicle thefts at 928 (5.09 per one thousand residents) amounting to 12,708 property crimes at an annual average (69.73 per one thousand residents). Overall, a citizen of Knoxville, Tennessee has a 1 in 102 probability of experiencing a violent crime and a 1 in 14 probability of experiencing a property crime annually.
The KPD Records Section maintains a collection of records on all arrests made by the department. Through this section, which is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 4:15 PM on the first floor of police headquarters at 800 Howard Baker Jr. Avenue. Through this office, one may get crime reports, DUI reports and criminal records checks.