The purpose of the Community Policing Division is to develop and fost community partnerships with the citizens of Mt. Juliet. This is accomplished by working with community groups to identify and resolve community problems together and to keep the lines of communication open. These partnerships allow our officers to work with citizens to recognize and resolve community concerns, quality of life issues, and to solve crime problems in our city. The Mt. Juliet Police Department takes a proactive approach to Community Policing and works with many Neighborhood Watch groups, which emphasize crime prevention strategies. Ofc. Tyler Chandler, the Community Policing Director, acts as a liaison between the department and the neighborhood watch group to help establish and maintain the group. The watch group’s quality of life issues and crime concerns are addressed. In addition, crime prevention strategies passed to the watch group. In addition, the Community Policing, upon request performs school safety audits, home and business crime prevention surveys, and crime prevention workshops. As a result of the expertise and professional manner demonstrated with past undertaking, our COPPS division routinely uses CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design) principles that are applied early on in the design of community issues and projects. This division has been increasingly called upon to conduct surveys relative to highly sensitive security issues at all levels of government, local businesses, and residential homes. The division is involved in many community events such as all Parks & Recreation special events, annual police bike safety rodeos, and National Night Out Against Crime. This division coordinates the Citizen’s Police Academy. In addition the volunteer groups of the Police Explorer Post #465 and Citizen’s Police Academy Alumni (CPAA) are headed by the Community Policing Division.

The Mt. Juliet Police Department maintains a very active Community Policing Division, responsible for a vast array of community services. Those services include:

  • Certified Child Passenger Safety Seat Installations
    • Certain Officers are Certified Child Safety Seat Technicians. Officers will check recalls on the child seat, and whether the seat is properly installed. This is done by appointment only. Contact the Community Policing Director to make an appointment.
  • Citizens' Police Academy - Apply Online
    • This is a free, informational 10-week program provided as an overview of how the police and the Criminal Justice System operate. This program is offered annually. It is open to the public, and applications may be picked up at the Police Department Headquarters or you can apply online. (Applicants must be 18 years of age or older)
  • Explorer Post #465 - Apply Online
    • The Explorer Post strives to recruit bright, young potential law enforcement officer candidates into the Mt. Juliet Police Department by recruiting young men and women between the ages of 14-18 to join Police Explorer Post #465. This post runs like an actual, mini police department. The Explorers are trained in many aspects of law enforcement, and they are able to test their skills at many competitions throughout the year across Tennessee and United States. In addition, the Explorers help with traffic and crowd control of many city special events. This program is constantly recruiting, and interested parties should contact the Community Policing Director or apply online.
  • Lunch with a Cop
    • Officers can visit students at the local grade schools during their lunch periods. This make the officers accessible to students for questions in a relaxed, non-threatening environment. Officers visit all local elementary schools throughout the year.
  • McGruff the Crime Dog
    • One of the most successful lecture programs conducted by the Section is the Officer McGruff Program. The McGruff Program is a child crime prevention program utilizing the nationally recognized McGruff character to reinforce our Crime Prevention message. This program is highly sought after by schools, community groups and official police sponsored events.
  • Police Department Tours
    • Tours of the police department are scheduled for local community groups (Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, etc...) through the Community Policing Division.
  • Security Surveys
    • A security survey is a confidential, in-depth written report that evaluates the existing security and procedures of a premise. A private home, for example, may only entail locks, doors, windows and an alarm system. A corporate facility may require addressing a much wider range of needs, such as closed circuit television, electronic access control, fencing, security lighting, mail handling and visitor screening procedures. The survey will address security vulnerabilities and outline corrective measures. The Department provides this service free of charge. The preparation of confidential surveys requires a technical expertise in the field of security that few members of the Department have acquired. Therefore, our personnel must be knowledgeable on new developments in the security industry. Members of the command have been trained or have an extensive knowledge in physical security. If interested in have a security servey conducted, please contact the Community Policing Director.
  


Tyler Chandler

Director of Community Oriented

Policing & Problem Solving

615.754.2550  ext. 260

tchandler@cityofmtjuliet.org