Recent research from a variety of disciplines including medicine, psychology, education, and justice indicates the need for a more comprehensive curriculum to achieve long-term results. LifeSkills Training is a research-based program, which includes ATOD (alcohol, tobacco, and other drug) prevention and peer pressure resistance but goes beyond the D.A.R.E. curriculum to include sessions on self-image and self-improvement, decision making, advertising, media violence, coping with anxiety and anger, conflict resolution, and so on. LST is interactive and the instructor is more a facilitator than a lecturer.

In June, after more than a year of planning and preparation, personnel from KPD, Knox County Sheriff's Office, Knox County Schools, and the Metropolitan Drug Commission participated in LifeSkills Instructor Training conducted by the University of Tennessee's Law Enforcement Innovation Center. Our former D.A.R.E. officers, now LifeSkills officers, will begin teaching LST to middle school students in much the same manner D.A.R.E. was delivered. The White House Office of Drug Policy, US Department of Education, American Medical Association, American Psychological Association, National Centers for Disease Control, and US Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention endorse LST for preventative excellence.

The Boys & Girls Club Liaison Officer is assigned full-time to the Boys & Girls Club. The officer serves as a mentor and is responsible for instructing teens on a variety of topics from abstinence to leadership.

The Boggle Your Mind with Goggles Project is directed toward teens and adults. It is an interactive demonstration explaining the effects of alcohol and impairment especially as they pertain to driving. Participants wear the "Fatal Vision" simulator goggles for a better understanding of alcohol's impairing effects in a variety of situations.

For more information the above programs, please call the Safety Education Unit at 215-8633.

Volunteer Program

The Volunteer Program is intended to assist the department in the delivery of services to the community and in achieving departmental goals. This is accomplished by creating a partnership with citizen volunteers willing to assist the Knoxville Police Department in achieving the goals of the organization. The Volunteers In Police Services Unit has grown tremendously thanks to the dedicated and caring citizen volunteers who give of their time and effort to assist their police department and community. Volunteers assist in areas such as Volunteer Coordinator Assistant, Organized Crime Unit, Training Unit, Citizen Police Academy, Crime Analysis Unit, Safety Education Unit, Safety City, Major Crimes Unit, Property Crimes Unit, Criminalistics Unit, and many departmental and community activities. For more information, please contact the Volunteer Coordinator, Officer Michele Goldsberry at 215-8620.

Safety City

Safety City is a community service project to educate second grade students in pedestrian, bicycle, passenger and fire safety, as well as how to use E-9-1-1 properly. It is sponsored by the entire community, including government, private businesses and industry, and civic organizations. Area businesses and organizations furnish different portions of the project with either monetary or in-kind services and materials.
More Info on Safety City

Child Safety Seat Checkpoint

The Safety Education Unit provides several Occupant Protection Programs to the public. The Knoxville Police Department has personnel whom have completed the 32-hour Child Passenger Safety Technician Standardized Training, and one of these technicians is certified as a Technician Instructor. The police department has two permanent Child Safety Seat Checkpoint locations. The fitting stations are scheduled on the first Saturday of each month at Beaty Chevrolet and the second Saturday of each month at Rusty Wallace Honda.
More Info on Child Safety Seat Checkpoints

School Resource Officer (SRO) Program

The School Resource Officer (SRO) Program is a comprehensive research-based strategy to help deter and prevent school violence. The School Resource Officers are uniformed police officers assigned to five area high schools and seven middle schools within the City of Knoxville to work in partnership with the school personnel and students on a daily basis to provide a safe learning environment. They also participate in the department's Youth Programs, Youth Councils and Youth Academy.
More Info on School Resource Officer Program