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CASE #8 (Issue #65: September 1997)Submitted by Chief James Keesling, Kingsport (Tennessee) Police Department Chief James Keesling has been in police administration for 20 years. Previous to becoming Chief of Police of the Kingsport (TN) Police Department, he was Deputy Director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. He is past National President of the FBI national Academy Associates, and graduate of the 96th session. He is active in community affairs, serving on many committees related to law enforcement and private enterprises. He also served for three years as a member of the Tennessee POST Commission.
In the five years of accreditation, we reaped many benefits that are attributed totally to being accredited. The largest benefit is the $100.00 deduction per officer per year toward our liability insurance policy. This has amounted to $50,000 in savings for the city in the past five years. A second benefit, and a very significant one, is whenever our officers have been involved in liability lawsuits, or possible lawsuits, our reputation as an accredited agency has kept us out of court. Furthermore, defense attorneys who are representing the individuals suing are aware of the stringent standards that our officers must perform under, and know that we are an accredited agency. Therefore, no lawsuits have been filed after an investigation. The accreditation standards have lowered the number of citizen complaints by approximately 60%, and the citizen support toward our department has been very favorable. During the reaccreditation process at the public hearing, over 200 citizens showed up to speak out in favor of the police department and our performance. This included the District Attorneys General, defense attorneys, and citizens of all socio-economic backgrounds. Comments indicated that they supported our department and believed it to be one of the most professional in the state. Morale in the department has risen from a low in 1986, when I became administrator, to one of the very highest. I attribute this to the CALEA standards and the tools the policies give me to assure we give professional service, and tot he officers who now have the equipment and technology necessary to perform those services in a professional manner.
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In 1968, I became Police Chief of the Kingsport Police Department. The
total strength of the department at that time was 90 (70 sworn). Today, we are
155 employees (99 sworn). The department was accredited in March 1992. We
were recently reaccredited in the spring of 1997, at the Rochester meeting.
