NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Sevierville is known for being Dolly Parton’s home, bringing out huge crowds to visit everything from Dollywood to the Great Smoky Mountains. However, big crowds also mean more calls to law enforcement.
"All the departments in the county are really relatively small for the millions of people that come through Sevier County," said Detective Sergeant Graham Brantly, who works with the Sevierville Police Department.
He said ever since the pandemic, more people are traveling to the area, so their calls have gone up by around 20%. The Violent Crime Intervention Fund, a new fund for local police departments started by Governor Bill Lee, may help the department find ways to meet the new needs of the community.
"We're seeing a rise in cases of violent cases, property crime cases, overdose cases — just across the board is going up,” Brantley said.
The VCIF is available for departments using evidence-based crime intervention models, or to hire and train new violent crime units. It also can be used to buy new technology and equipment, or for partnerships with community organizations led by law enforcement.
Sevierville police also said they have seen an increase in domestic assaults and shootings. So, they’re relying a lot on technology to investigate cases.
“Various forms of surveillance, video, lab testing, all these things that are available to us now we're relying on more heavily, especially us as a smaller department,” Brantley said.
But all this costs money. Brantley said more funding, such as grants from the new fund announced by Governor Lee, would help the department test more evidence and process it.
The detective explained that they investigate their own crimes and collect evidence.
"We're hopeful in the future, here at the Sevierville Police Department, to have a small in-house lab,” Brantley said.
This would mean they could process evidence and would have faster results. Especially during busy times when millions of tourists are visiting.
Local law enforcement can apply for money from the new fund through January.
"Law enforcement needs all the help they can get just to keep up with the rising crime, the rising calls, and the rise in the general public needing us for our various services,” Brantley said.