Brief KPD History
Kingsport, the second oldest town in Sullivan County, was known as the largest and most important city in the county. In 1822 the town of Christianville and the town of Rossville combined to form the incorporated town of Kingsport. Almost 100 years elapsed before Kingsport officially became a City in March 1917. Up until that time all law enforcement was performed by constables and the sheriff of the county.
Upon being
notified that the City had been chartered, the new
governing body appointed George Barger as Chief
of Police and
three officers, W.P. FLora, A.R. Hagy, and Sam Barger, to
serve the City of Kingsport.
Also still assigned to the city were
Sullivan County Deputies W.W. Leedy and S.P. Devault.
The City of Kingsport has had twelve Police Chiefs since it's charter, the current being Chief Mark E. Addington. Chief At the end of 2001 Addington headed the department of 99 sworn officers, 42 full-time non-sworn and 15 part time non-sworn personnel, for a total of 156 employees. In addition the department has a very dedicated Volunteer Services Program.
These officers patrol a city that is 43.99 square miles in size, and encompasses land in both Sullivan and Hawkins ounties. The City has a population of 44,905 and has 405.23 miles of roadway.
p>Chief Addington is assisted by two Deputy Chiefs, G. Gale Osporne, Operations Deputy Chief, and David Quillen, Administrative Deputy Chief.The Police Department operates the city 911 Communications Center and has a staff of 15 certified dispatchers. The KPD is unique in that it is one of the few remaining municipal police deparments in the state that operates a city jail.
After moving into the new Justice Center in 1989, the department achieved two additional goals. They were the first law enforcement department in the area to begin an officer vehicle take home program, and were also the first to obtain national accreditation, as well as only the third in the State of Tennessee to achieve this goal.
Four KPD police officers have lost their lives in the line of duty.
Source:2001 Annual Report and KPD Historian Ltd. Paul Bowman, 10/2000, who may be contacted for more details. If anyone has any historical documentation, photographs or information on the KPD from 1917-1960, please contact Capt. Bowman at 229-9498.