The Advocate & Democrat: Hometown Heroes 2022

Monroe County Sheriff’s Office

The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office is one of the county’s largest non-factory employers.

Sheriff Tommy Jones II pointed out that Monroe County is one of the top five largest counties in Tennessee in terms of miles and his men and women are always on the move.

“They run their tails off,” Jones said. “They stay busy every second they’re on the clock.”

The Sheriff’s Office offers various programs to the commu nity, including a neighborhood watch program and a citi zen’s police academy.

“I worked with Sweetwater Police for many years,” Jones said, “and they’ve always had an excellent citizen’s police academy and I’d like to let everybody see how this office works and how things are done both at the jail and out in the field.”

Jones also referenced his hiring of a training officer as a boon to the county.

“Our training officer, Donald Bivens, is one of the best in the state. He can constantly keep our guys up to date and his salary is less than we’d be paying for the guys to attend classes every year.”

“Training can also help with court cases,” Jones added. “A well-trained officer in court can deal much better with a defense attorney.”

At left: The Sheriff’s Office oper ates out of the Justice Center, which opened in Madisonville on New Highway 68 in 2020. The Sheriff’s Office and county officials spent years plan ning the building and preparing for the move.

Sheriff Tommy Jones II

Sweetwater Police Department

The Sweetwater Police Department (SPD) prides itself on staying involved in the commu nity. Sweetwater Police Commissioner James H. Stutts and SPD Chief Eddie Byrum believe com munity involvement is the best way to stay proactive and be prepared. SPD believes strongly in community policing, which is accomplished by talking with residents and communicating with them on a daily basis along with the neighbor hood watch program.

In addition to full-time officers, SPD also has part-time auxiliary officers, which includes the school security officers in each Sweetwater City School. SPD also has officers who are very fluent speaking Spanish, which is a big help to the department as the com munity grows more diverse.

There are many free services SPD offers, which include crime prevention awareness home visits and talk ing with residents about ways to make their property safer from crime along with visits to businesses to educate them on ways to avoid being a victim of crime.

Whether it is dis tributing fans to the elderly during hot weather through the Elder Watch Program, hosting a National Night Out each August for thousands of citi zens, or watching your home with extra patrol while you are on vacation, SPD has numerous free services that go the extra mile to protect the community.

Police Chief Eddie Byrum

Other programs include:

• Unlocking locked cars

• A fingerprint ID program for area children

• Sex-offender registry

• Stranger-Danger program

• Christmas benevolence programs

• Red Ribbon anti-drug program

You can find out more about these programs by calling the department at 423-337-6151.

Madisonville Police Department

The Madisonville Police serves the community with a staff that includes 13 road officers, four detectives (two of which work narcot ics solely), two school resource officers, one animal control officer, one chaplain and one narcotics K-9, Maxx.

The department also has 10 part-time officers on staff.

Command staff is Police Chief Danny Russell, Assistant Chief Kevin Peak and Police Commissioner Ed Dawson.

Halloween in the City, Shop with a Cop, Toys for Tots and the annual Christmas parade. The police also coordinate with the Downtown Madisonville Alliance in several events held in down town Madisonville and Memorial Park.

Program (LESO) provided by the federal government.

Police Chief Danny Russell

The department participates in a variety of events, including the city’s Fourth of July celebration,

Because of the challeng ing times we live in, the department has added the first special response team the department has ever had, including 10 officers, fully trained. Each officer has been through basic SWAT school, as well as advanced SWAT school, and has been issued state-of-the-art equipment thanks to the Law Enforcement Support

This program has allowed small police departments like Madisonville access to funds to purchase equipment, such as active shooter kits for every road officer in the department, as well as both school resource officers and all the equipment needed to equip the special response team at no cost to the taxpayers.

The department has also convert ed all department-issued shotguns

to non-lethal weapons by chang ing out all the ammo to bean bag am mo, giving officers non-lethal training with more options in bad situations.

The department strives to be there for each and every citizen in the City of Madisonville in the worst of times as well as the best of times.

The department is located in its new building at 101 Tellico Street North in downtown Madisonville behind the historic Courthouse.

Vonore Police Dept.

The 12 square-mile town of Vonore serves as a hub for visitors traveling from one end of the state to the other, all while hosting a small town feel. The Vonore Police Department’s mission is to “build a strong community relation with the citizens, preserve the peace, and pro tect so citizens can feel safe and secure. The department wants to welcome and serve both residents and visitors, allowing them to feel safe and to enjoy the beauty of the town’s numerous natural resources.

Vonore Police Chief Dennis Graham is a life-long

Rescue Squad

The Monroe County Rescue Squad is the epitome of community volun teers coming together for the good of everyone. Monroe County Rescue Squad members give freely of their time for all kinds of emergencies and situations that occur. Whether it is responding to a motor vehicle accident on the interstate or a country road, a boating accident on an area waterway, a missing person call in rough terrain or helping park cars at a high school football game, the Monroe County Rescue Squad is always there to help local residents.

Each year, the Rescue Squad holds an annual banquet to recognize and honor its members. Awards are pre sented to squadmen of the year and other certificates of appreciation. In addition, the Rescue Squad recognizes

the area businesses and organizations that support them throughout the year.

The Rescue Squad elects its officers for the new year and also provides a report on all the calls Squad members respond to in a coming year.

In a typical year, the Monroe County Rescue Squad can log more than 8,600 man hours, working hundreds of automobile accidents, missing per son reports and assisting other first responders on numerous types of calls.

Monroe County Rescue Squad mem bers also volunteer many hours in a year to get the latest training to help our county’s residents safe.

The Rescue Squad is constantly seeking the best and most advanced equipment to preform its important roles in the community.

resident of Monroe County. Chief Graham started his law enforcement career in 2010.

Along with Graham, Vonore’s 10-man police force consists of Capt. Shane Carr, Det. Cory Fritts, Sgt. Eric Watson, patrol officers Kevin Osbourne, James Fischer, and Aaron McMahan, School Resource Officer Melinda Fowler and auxiliary officer Dale Bradley.

The Vonore Police Department continuously strives to remain active in local school and community events, serving in various capacities among the town’s population of approximately

1,500 people.

Graham and his depart ment work hard to maintain safe and orderly roadways, communities, neighbor hoods, and schools. The mayor and board of alderman work diligently to support the efforts of the Vonore Police Department.

Chief Graham attributes the success of the depart ment to the dedication of his force and the residents they serve and protect.

Vonore Police Department is located at 613 Church Street. The department can be reached by calling 423884-2480.

Vonore Police Chief Dennis Graham, left, is pictured with Monroe County Mayor Mitch Ingram.

The Monroe County Rescue Squad works an accident, as UT Lifestar lands to transport a vicitm.

Tellico Plains Police Department

The Tellico Plains Police Department (TPPD) seeks to create peace and security in their small town.

Jeb Brown has been serving in the police chief position since March 2019. He has been in law enforce ment since 1994, working with the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, the Niota Police Department and the Tellico Plains Police Department.

TPPD is made up of Chief Brown, Detective Jerry Miller, patrolmen David Bookout, Eric Kilby and Zach Russell, and part-time patrolmen Dakota Rinehart and Larry Bivens.

Brown said his officers strive to provide effective police services that instill public confidence, community trust and support.

“Our mission here at Tellico Plains Police Department is to be a community-oriented department that will provide top-quality law enforcement to our citizens,” said Brown. “Our goal is to obtain the trust and respect from our community, and that will help us to better serve them.”

While the TPPD does not currently have any special programs for citizens, each year the department orga nizes the town’s Trunk or Treat event.

The department also participates in multiple town events, such as the Christmas Parade, Candlelight Walk, the annual Dance on the Square, and the Cherohala Skyway Festival.

Toys for Tots program creates magi cal Christmases for families in need around the holidays each year.

Brown aspires to start the depart ment’s Citizen’s Police Academy soon, as well as a summer program for teenagers who are look ing to start a career in law enforcement.

Brown thanked the Tellico Plains City Council and Mayor Marilyn Parker for supporting the depart ment in all their efforts.

Police Chief Jeb Brown

“The mayor and City Board are dedicated to providing the Police Department with all the tools they need to ensure the citizens of Tellico Plains are getting quality, efficient law enforcement,” said Brown.

“We enjoy providing assistance to all of the many event and festivi ties here in our ‘Little Town with the Big Backyard,’” said Brown.

In addition, the department’s

The TPPD is located inside Tellico Plains City Hall at 405 Veterans Memorial Drive. They can be reached at 423-253-2030. The hours of office operation are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The Tellico Plains Police Department participates in a variety of community events each year, such as the Summer Reading Program events at Tellico Plains Public Library (pictured above).

We count on you.

Our patients count on us when they need us most. And we count on you as first responders to provide the care they need when an emergency strikes. As frontline caregivers, you are the first to provide compassionate, individualized and often lifesaving care. On behalf of the doctors, staff and administration, we offer you our heartfelt thanks and appreciation. From the routine to the unforeseen, count on us.

Masking and other infection prevention protocols are followed for specific patient encounters, as appropriate.

Monroe County EMS

Monroe County EMS started provid ing service to the citizens of Monroe County in July 1974. Since that time, they have been greatly involved in the level of care that is being delivered to the community and the level of education and training employees are required to maintain.

“We strive to maintain a level of preparedness that is second to none. We have EMTs, AEMTs, para medics, and critical care paramedics all on staff to provide for the medical needs of our com munities, along with multiple first responders from the com

EMS Director Randy White

munity fire departments that are essen tial to EMS and our county’s emergency response system. Monroe County responds to just over 9,000 calls a year,” said EMS Director Randy White.

White said he is honored to be the director of Monroe County EMS. “The men and women who I work with day in and day out are second to none,” said White. “We have some of the best clinicians that you will find anywhere, and that includes our volunteers.”

In White’s more than 30-year career,

he said the past few years have pre sented a different set of challenges than ever before.

“We’ve seen some exceptionally challenging few years in health care due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said. “We have transported many patients during this crisis and our employees have not failed nor hesitated to come to work, and they have continued to maintain the high est level of care and preparedness possible.”

White said Monroe County EMS is working hard to be a strong unit.

“We want to become the best we can be,” he said. “We are training harder and seeking more educational opportunities from the best educators in the state as we grow and continue to move forward in our level of skill and care. Monroe County is blessed to have highly-skilled and dedicated technicians, who respond to the med ical needs of citizens and visitors on a daily basis.”

Emergency Management Agency

BY CHAD LEMING Monroe County EMA Director

I am blessed and excited to be the EMA director for Monroe County.

According to FEMA, emergency management directors are responsible for helping communities and organizations anticipate hazards and vulnerabil ity and undertake measures to deal with disasters more effectively. There are five phases of emergency management: prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery.

Working closely with our local officials, officers, and emergency personnel, as well as TEMA and

FEMA, is vital to being prepared to help our communities should a disas ter occur.

We are still dealing with the effects of the pandemic and continue to do weekly check-ins with the local and state officials to ensure that Monroe County is up to date on information concerning COVID-19. Our emergency service workers should always be commended for their work, but espe cially so in a time such as this.

Chad Leming

We are continuing to work on our county’s updated radio system. All the radios

have been purchased, delivered, and are in service. We continue to ensure that all of them are working properly and have good reception. Multiple trips have been made to tower locations to ensure that everything is working. This radio system is a much safer one for all our emergency service workers and law enforcement offi cers because it is much clearer than our antiquated system.

If you have any questions about emer gency management, please feel free to contact our office by email at mc.ema@ monroetn.com or by phone at 423-519-7100.

Monroe County’s E-911 Center

Monroe County’s E-911 Director April Duckett White believes that the heart of the E-911 Center is the dispatchers.

“How this center is operated is not a reflection on what I do in an office, but it’s the job done by the dispatchers,” said White, who has served as the director of the E-911 Center for six years now. “They are the ones who work to create a positive reflection in the community. The real job— the difficult job—is done by those who answer the phone and offer help to those in need.”

There are currently 13 full-time dispatch ers (including the addressing department) and four part-time employees.

As director, White oversees the center, maintains the budget, assists with dispatch responsibilities when needed and hires the dispatchers.

On an average, the E-911 Center receives around 90,000 calls a year. E-911 dispatchers answer both emergency and non-emergency lines and dispatch the calls to a total of 28 departments, which includes the volunteer fire departments.

Among their other duties, dispatchers conduct emergency medical dispatch, run NCIC (National Crime Information Center, which includes tags, driver’s licenses, missing/wanted per sons, criminal histories and making entries into the database on stolen property, missing/ wanted persons, order of protec tions, stolen vehicles and sex offenders), and coordinate when other resources are needed, such as Lifestar.

A majority of the E-911 Center’s funding comes from the State of Tennessee, which includes the 911 surcharges that appear on phone bills. The center also receives supplemental funding from each municipality in Monroe

County and from the county government.

“When applicable, we also receive grant money for funding,” said White.

White called the E-911 Center’s dispatchers “an amazing group.”

“They truly have a servant’s heart and love to help people,” said White. “It takes a very special person to be able to be a dispatcher.”

Dispatchers work hard with the community in mind, said White.

“Our goal is to provide expedient and efficient help to our community when they have an emer gency need,” White noted. “We want to be the calming voice of reassurance on the other end of the line. We never want anyone to hesitate to call our center for help. That’s what we are here for.”

Monroe County Veterans Services

Army veteran Andy Boyd is the Monroe County direc tor of Veteran Services and he is ready to help local veterans with whatever needs they have. Boyd helps veterans navigate the some times complicated Veteran’s Administration (VA). Boyd served in the Army from 1987 to 1991. He is also the son of a veteran and grandson of a veteran.

The Monroe County Veteran’s Office is located in the old General Sessions Court building, or the Witt Judicial Building, at 403 Tellico Street in Madisonville.

The Veterans Services

Office strives to help veterans or their families with filing claims with the VA.

“Claims could be for dis ability compensation, pen sions, burial benefits, or survivor’s benefits. The office can help with appealing to the VA due to negative deci sions applied to the veteran.

There is also assistance with filing for VA health care or other VA benefits, such as education, VA home loans, insurance, and vocational rehab,” explained Boyd. “The office can help a veteran request his or her DD214 (discharge papers), or provide assistance with a variety of

other veteran issues, includ ing offering contacts to other resources that might be help ful.”

Boyd said Monroe County is also extremely grateful to veteran service organizations for everything they do.

“They do a lot for the vet eran community in Monroe County. These include the American Legions, Commander Mark Stewart, the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), Commander Dale Duckett, and Vet to Vet, President Ed Junod.”

For assistance, call the Veterans Service Office at 423-442-5812.

Monroe County Director of Veterans Services Andy Boyd.

Sweetwater Fire Department

The Sweetwater Fire Department (SFD) prides itself in providing citizens the best fire protection pos sible and diligently working to train firefighters to the highest standards in fire service.

SFD relocated Station 1 to a new building on New Highway 68 in 2016, which was designed specifically to the needs of fire depart ment. The location was selected at the recommen dation of Insurance Services Office (ISO) and serves the south and west portions of the city, including the inter state corridor.

While Sweetwater takes pride in the cur rent ISO rating of Class 4, Commissioner Alan Richesin and Fire Chief John Anderson, along with the firefighters, strive to achieve an even lower rat ing by implementing higher levels of training, adding the newest equipment and technology in firefighting, and enhancing the fire fleet. In 2020, the department acquired two new CLASS-A Pumpers. SFD also acquired an e-one 95’ platform pumper in 2022.

SFD annually applies for funding through Homeland Security’s FEMA Assistance to Firefighters Grant pro gram and has had great success in upgrading some antiquated equipment.

SFD has a longstanding passion for fire safety in the community. SFD promotes fire safety from various

fire safety programs in the schools to offering handson fire extinguisher training in Industrial and commercial

businesses within the City of Sweetwater. SFD has also partnered with the State of Tennessee Fire Marshal’s

Office to install smoke detectors in residences at no charge through the Get Alarmed Campaign.

For more information, call Chief Anderson at the Sweetwater Fire Department at 423-337-6724.

Tellico Plains Fire Department

The Tellico Plains Fire Departement is a volunteer based department that has served the Tellico community for many years.

Luther Walton became the Tellico Plains fire chief in January this year following the retirement of Chief Jamie Sisson.

Walton stated the department cur rently has roughly 10 active members and many other reserved members.

“I started in the fire service back in 1982 in South Carolina and I have been here working emergency services since then,” Walton said. “I’m a para medic and worked in different service areas for around 30 years and I’m also a registered nurse.”

Walton is grateful to be the fire chief for Tellico Plains.

“I had gone there from another

department because they didn’t have any medical responders in Tellico,” he noted. “As a paramedic that certainly qualified me to fill that role for them so I went in as the captain for the medical side and started in that role. When the chief (Sisson) decided he was going to retire, the department voted me in to that role.”

Walton holds 40 years of active experience combining all of his train ing and various jobs.

“I would like to see our department grow and have at least one person working on a full-time basis because that will reduce our response times,” he noted. “That is a budgetary thing and with a town the size of Tellico it is hard to find a salary for something like that, but it is my job to try and make the logistics happen.”

Madisonville Fire-Rescue

The City of Madisonville was chartered in 1915 and, from researching city documentation, the Madisonville Fire Department was established in the mid-1920s. Since then, the department added a vital lifesaving skill of rescue to its wheel house, which prompted the current name of Madisonville Fire-Rescue.

Gone are the days of only fighting fire. Modern day fire departments offer a variety of services from firefighting to vehicle extrication and anything in between to help the community.

Service is provided from both fulltime and part-time firefighters, along with volunteer firefighters. In addi tional to their firefighting skills, some of the certifications held by depart ment members are Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), hazardous materials technician, fire inspector, K9 search

and rescue, car seat safety technician, and rescue technician.

Madisonville Fire-Rescue is member of the Tri-State Mutual Aid Association, which is made up of Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee. The department’s primary mission is to “provide rou tine second alarm through fifth alarm response and special calls to fire, hazmat, specialized rescue incidents, and unusual events such as firefighter

funerals and major water outages.”

John Tallent (pictured at right) has served as chief of the department since 2003. The department averages about 1,500 calls for service each year.

Madisonville Fire-Rescue Station 2, located on Oak Grove Road, opened in recent years. The station services the northern end of the city and is in close proximity to Monroe County Schools’ Central Office and schools.

He believes the department provides a saftey net to the residents of Tellico.

“This gives them a quicker response to health care and we provide emer gency response to people while they wait for an ambulance,” Walton said. “A lot of times we get called on a lift assist like somebody has fallen and can’t get up, so we will go out there and help them and, of course, there is no charge for it because we are all volunteers.”

Walton expressed his gratitude for being the fire chief for the Tellico com munity.

“I’m honored to be given the opportunity,” Walton said. “It certainly wasn’t anything I was looking for but it is an honor to lead this group of men and women whose goals and desires are to help their neighbor.”

Vonore Fire Department

The Vonore Fire Department is made up of four full-time personnel, five part-time employees, and 14 volunteers. There are two stations in the city. One station is in Tellico West Industrial Park on Highway 72 west, which is staffed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The other station is located downtown across from City Hall on Church Street.

The Fire Department has two fire engines, a ladder truck and four responder vehicles. In 2020, the

Vonore Fire Department responded to 616 calls. The local fire departments are seeing more and more medical calls every year and especially with COVID still ongoing.

Fire Chief Danny Amschler has worked for the Vonore Police Department for 18 years. The full-time fire men are Mike Stephens, Bobby Lewis and Channing Ledbetter. All personnel are medical certified, along with several other certifications held in various areas of

training.

The Town of Vonore has an ISO rating of 5 inside the city and hopes to continue to work on that rating to get it lower.

The Town of Vonore has two industrial parks, a fourlane highway, a railway that divides the town and Tellico Lake.

“At Vonore Fire Department, we strive to provide the best service possible for the citizens of Vonore and the surrounding areas,” said Chief Amschler.

Monroe Co.’s Rural Fire Departments

The vast majority of residents in Monroe County are served by a vol unteer fire department staffed by vol unteer firefighters.

There are nearly 150 volunteer firefighters in the county in 15 vol unteer departments and their roles are critical. Volunteer firefighters are busy every day responding not only to fires, but also accidents and medi cal calls.

Much of the funding for the vol unteer departments funding comes from the taxpayers of Monroe County through county appropriations. Also, volunteer contributions through boot drives and other fundraisers are used. Unfortunately, fundraising efforts have been difficult this year due to COVID-19 and a majority of the events having to be cancelled.

All personnel are volunteer and

fight fires and respond to other emer gencies without pay.

The Monroe County Firefighters Association, formed in 1992, is a key organization that brings the rural fire departments together to promote training and other aspects of volun teer fire department service.

Grant funding has been a key to getting more equipment. One of the first major grants it received was upgrading some of the rural depart ments with new brush trucks. Since then, through a lot of work, grants and fundraising, many departments have modern tankers, pumpers, and first response vehicles.

A single firefighter’s bunker gear with a self-contained breathing appa ratus can cost as much as $7,000 or higher. A new Class A pumper truck, just a basic truck, might cost $300,000 or higher. Modern firefight ing tools such as infrared heat detect ing cameras are also expensive.

Volunteer fire departments coop erate with police, EMS, EMA, and Rescue Squad personnel on a daily basis. They participate in county-wide training, Local Emergency Planning

Committee (LEPC) meeting and 911 user Committee meetings for better communications.

Each volunteer department strives to provide a wide range of emergency services at no charge, including, but not limited to, fire suppression, emergency medical, vehicle accident response, search and rescue. These services are provided to better protect and serve each life and property in local communities.

To accomplish this, the depart ments are constantly recruiting new volunteers. In addition to volunteer firefighters, the departments also need volunteers to assist with fund raising, support, accounting, main tenance and more. Each department educates and trains volunteers. Call today to begin the process of becom ing a volunteer: 423-420-FIRE.