NASHVILLE --- Forty members of the Tennessee Highway Patrol returned to the state on Wednesday after assisting the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) during the 57th Inauguration of the President of the United States. As part of a joint operation, the THP helped provide security during the inauguration events with 90 local and state law enforcement agencies, as well as federal authorities and military personnel. 

NASHVILLE --- Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security officials today joined representatives from the state’s Department of Transportation and Governor’s Highway Safety Office to announce the preliminary number of traffic fatalities in 2012. Early figures indicate there was an increase in vehicular deaths on Tennessee roadways last year. These figures include all vehicular fatalities in Tennessee reported by law enforcement agencies across the state.

NASHVILLE --- The Tennessee Highway Patrol’s Identity Crimes Unit will host an Identity Theft Awareness Day from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. (EDT) on Saturday, January 26 to provide citizens methods to protect their identity and to offer a safe location to shred and dispose of personal and private documents.  The event will be held at the agency’s district headquarters located at 7601 Kingston Pike in Knoxville.

NASHVILLE --- The Tennessee Highway Patrol is now accepting applications for the spring session of its Citizens’ Trooper Academy. For the first time, academies will be held in both Nashville and Memphis. The first session for the Nashville class is scheduled to begin Monday, March 11, 2013. Sessions will run from 6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. weekly. The Memphis class is scheduled to begin on Thursday, March 14, 2013. Sessions for this group will run from 6:30 - 9:00 p.m. weekly.

NASHVILLE --- Tennessee State Troopers located a missing two-year old male on Wednesday afternoon after a statewide Amber Alert was issued earlier in the morning. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation issued the alert.

NASHVILLE --- A Monday afternoon traffic stop in Marshall County led to a drug arrest by Tennessee State Trooper Phillip Long. Trooper Long is assigned to the Tennessee Highway Patrol’s West Bureau Interdiction Team.   

NASHVILLE ---The Tennessee Highway Patrol arrested 96 individuals on suspicion of impaired driving in counties participating in the “No Refusal” enforcement effort over the New Year’s holiday period.  The holiday period ran from 6 p.m., Friday, December 28 through midnight on Tuesday, January 1, 2013. Two suspects refused to take a breathalyzer test, resulting in warrants for a blood sample under the “No Refusal” law.

NASHVILLE --- Five people lost their lives in vehicular crashes on Tennessee roadways during last year’s New Year’s Eve holiday period. Sixty percent of those fatalities occurred in alcohol-related crashes. That’s why the Tennessee Highway Patrol will join with local law enforcement agencies to conduct another “No Refusal” DUI enforcement campaign during the 2012-13 New Year’s Eve holiday, beginning at 6 p.m., Friday, December 28 and concluding at midnight on Tuesday, January 1, 2013.

NASHVILLE --- The Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security today announced the postponement of merging the Lawrence County Driver Service Center with the Maury County Driver Service Center as previously announced in November.  The merger was to take place on January 2 as part of an overall effort to improve effectiveness and efficiency with the state’s driver license services.

NASHVILLE – Snow, ice and sub-freezing temperatures of winter weather can come with little or no warning, creating minor problems for some and major tragedies for others. The Department of Health is working with the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency and the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security to remind residents about the importance of planning and preparation to avoid weather-related problems in homes, outdoors or on the road this winter. The three departments urge individuals to prepare with a sense of urgency, because winter weather can be unpredictable and even deadly for those who don’t have a winter emergency plan.