KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Starting on September 1, 2022, Knoxville Police Department officers will no longer respond to certain non-injury car crashes, according to Chief of Police Paul Noel.
Officers will only respond to minor, non-injury crashes if a car is disabled in the roadway and requires a tow truck or other specific factors are involved, KPD said.
Officers will continue to respond to crashes that:
- Result in injury or death
- Involve a suspected intoxicated driver
- Involve an unlicensed or uninsured driver
- Result in a disabled vehicle on the road
- Involve a disorderly or uncooperative party
- Involve a hit-and-run with injury
- Involve a Hazmat situation
- Result in damage to other property
KPD said drivers involved in a non-injury crash that does not involve any of the factors above should move their car out of the roadway to a safe location, exchange information, take cell phone photos and share the relevant information with their insurance companies and file required documents with the state.
The City of Knoxville said people are required to fill out a personal accident report with the Tennessee Department of Safety within 20 days of the crash, if the cost of the damage was greater than $400.
KPD still suggests people call 911 or their non-emergency line to report a car accident. The dispatcher can then decide whether officers should respond to the crash.
“Minor, non-injury crashes occupy a lot of our officers’ time and minimize our ability to respond more quickly to higher priority calls or conduct proactive traffic enforcement initiatives to actually prevent serious crashes from happening,” Chief Noel said. “We want to recapture that time so that we can focus our efforts on being visible in city neighborhoods and addressing violent crime.”
Recent crash data revealed that KPD officers cumulatively spend around 24 hours per day working minor, non-injury crashes when factoring in the time it takes to get to the call, collect the relevant information and complete the report, according to KPD.
Chief Noel said he would like his officers to focus more on community policing rather than responding to minor crashes.
"Community policing is more than just going to a community meeting. It's about problem-solving, building long-lasting relationships," Chief Noel said. "This is about getting 24 hours more per day for our officers to be able to do that.
In April, the City of Knoxville said about 1 in 10 positions within the Knoxville Police Department were unfilled. Chief Noel said this would help with the staffing shortages, but the new policy would continue even if all of KPD's positions were to be filled.
“This is really a minor change to our operations so that we can focus more narrowly on what is essential to our core mission as a department,” Chief Noel said. “This is also just a small piece of a larger strategic vision. We are taking a close look at how, when and where officers are deployed so that we can more effectively address higher priority public safety issues and concerns.”
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