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It’s No. 5 for the Morristown Police Department.

First and foremost on the City Council agenda on Tuesday was the award to MPD leadership of the department’s accreditation by the state.

“It is a process you go through about every three years, and there are 164 standards a police department is expected to meet,” Morristown Mayor Gary Chesney said. “This is the fifth time our city has received this award.”

Lt. Gary Kent, a member of the Tennessee Chiefs of Police Association Accreditation Committee who assessed the process in Morristown, was on hand to officially present the award.

Kent credited his successful involvement with the committee to MPD leadership, including Chief Roger Overholt and Deputy Chief Michelle Jones.

“Several years ago when our Sheriff of Sevier County decided that we were going to become state accredited, he came to me and said, ‘You’re going to do it,’” Kent said.

“I was a happy traffic division supervisor and I looked at him and said, ‘Am I not doing a good job?’ and ‘Have you gone mad?’

“I had no knowledge of state accreditation. I didn’t know what I was doing, or going to do; however, we were assigned mentors and an assessment team. Those mentors were Chief Overholt and Chief Jones. And we were very blessed to have them come and help us in our first accreditation process,” he said. “Their professionalism, knowledge and training taught us how to become a more professional agency.”

City Administrator Tony Cox praised the department.

“Capt. (Charles) Letterman, Chief Overholt and Chief Jones put a lot work into this throughout the year, and over the years, to maintain this certification. It does speak to the professionalism of the department and it goes from the top to bottom in terms of the commitment and service to our citizens. It’s something we do all need to be proud of,” Cox said.

This latest accreditation process for MPD brought Kent out of retirement, so to speak. Over the past few years, he has completed a number of assessments and decided to step back from the process.

“I said, ‘I’m not going to do any more for a while; I’m going to take a little break,’” he said.

Then Kent received a call from the Tennessee Law Enforcement Association requesting that he lead the Morristown effort: “There was no way I could turn that down,” he said.

Kent told Council that he knew the process would be an easy one, and “I was proven correct,” he said.

“The files that were built that were supposed to contain the documentation, the proof, were immaculate. We did an on-site: we spoke with personnel and toured the agency. Everybody we talked to was extremely professional – extremely professional. And they showed a love for the citizens of Morristown, a dedication to serve the citizens of Morristown professionally,” Kent said.

Kent’s co-assessor, Capt. Ralph Carr of the Pigeon Forge Police Department, was equally impressed and, according to Kent, discussed on the ride back to Sevier County his intention to implement in his own department several of the ideas he gleaned during the process.

“The process was very smooth. I would like to congratulate Capt. Lettermen and Chief Jones, who helped oversee the process,” Kent said.

Kent serves on the association’s Professional Standards Committee with Overholt and Jones and said their knowledge is invaluable to its members.

“I’m still learning from them and it’s been several years,” he said. “It’s my great honor to present them with this award for their fifth award for Tennessee Law Enforcement Accreditation.”

Kent then read the official certification.

“Tennessee Law Enforcement Accreditation Program, be it hereby known that the Morristown Police Department, having fully demonstrated its commitment to professional law enforcement by recognizing their responsibility to their community and to the citizens they serve and protect and having embodied the best professional practices with integrity by proving their compliance with the Tennessee Law Enforcement Accreditation Program, the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police and its board of directors hereby award this Certificate of Meritorious Accreditation effective on Feb. 1, 2023 and is recognized as an accredited law enforcement agency for a period of three years.

Prior to the forming of the state’s accreditation process, the MPD was a part of the national accreditation program. The department has been accredited since 1996.