Two dozen Tennessee law enforcement officers have become the newest graduates of the TBI State Academy, built as a professional and specialized training ground for public safety professionals who want to expand their education and training in the criminal justice field.

Modeled after the FBI’s National Academy, the TBI State Academy includes specialized coursework in the areas of leadership, constitutional law, communications intelligence, and crime scene and undercover investigations. Throughout the four-week course, attended learned advanced investigative techniques, science, and strategy; skills they can take back with them and immediately put into practice at their home agencies.  Candidates were nominated by their department heads and were required to have five years of experience as a full-time commissioned officer of a Tennessee law enforcement agency.

Each year, one student is honored with the prestigious Director’s Award. The officer selected for that award is the individual with the highest cumulative scores in academic tests, physical fitness, shooting competition, leadership presentation, and case presentation. This year’s recipient is Investigator Sam Davidson, from the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office.

The Academy runs four days a week for four weeks and is held at Tennessee Fire Service and Codes Enforcement Academy in Bell Buckle. This was the tenth class to graduate from the TBI State Academy.

(PHOTO ABOVE THIS STORY) - FRONT ROW (LEFT TO RIGHT): SRT Commander Hank Matthew Miller (Wilson County Sheriff’s Office), Investigator Dustin Matthew Jaco (McNairy County Sheriff’s Office), Lieutenant Detective Michael Andrew Richmond (Etowah Police Department), Detective Sergeant Greg Earps (McMinn County Sheriff’s Office), Investigator Angela Michelle Christian (Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office), Detective Melissa Colvin (Williamson County Sheriff’s Office), Lieutenant Jennifer Marie Mayberry (East Tennessee State University Department of Public Safety), Detective Nathaniel Lee Everhart (Shelbyville Police Department), Narcotics Detective Joseph Charles Reff (Jefferson City Police Department), Investigator Samuel Davidson III (Franklin County Sheriff’s Department), Investigator Cory Douglas Knowles (Warren County Sheriff’s Department), Ret. TBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Karen Alexander

BACK ROW (LEFT TO RIGHT): TBI Director David Rausch, Chief Investigator Jerry Lynn Mifflin (Fentress County Sheriff’s Office), Investigator Michael Dailey Green (Dayton Police Department), Deputy Evan Reese Cooper (Warren County Sheriff’s Office), Detective Stephen Daniel Hale (Nolensville Police Department), Assistant Chief Ranger Travis Bow (Tennessee State Parks), Detective Richard Garrett Mack (Bartlett Police Department), Sergeant Mark Holloway (Fayette County Sheriff’s Office), Detective Sergeant John Dale Sweeney (Bedford County Sheriff’s Office), Detective Jose Ramirez (Lewisburg Police Department), Investigator David Wayne Andrews (Henry County Sheriff’s Office), Investigator Nathan Charles Harrison (Selmer Police Department), Detective Bryan Tinsley Ashley (Sumner County Sheriff’s Office), Detective Joseph Blake Witt (Athens Police Department)