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Police: vehicle burglaries, motor vehicle thefts targeted in Operation Safe Streets; department reports arrests and recovered vehicles
Summary
Chief Maze reported rising recovered stolen vehicles and increased speeding citations after the department’s Operation Safe Streets; detectives linked shell casings via NIBIN for a shots-fired investigation and seven warrants were served during recent enforcement activity.
Chief Maze delivered the police department’s monthly report at the July 1, 2025 Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting, highlighting vehicle burglaries, motor-vehicle thefts and results from targeted enforcement.
Chief Maze said yearly totals show motor-vehicle theft and vehicle burglary remain a challenge; theft overall is “up a little bit” while recovered stolen vehicles are up 9.4%. Calls for service are up 3.1% year-to-date. The department also reported that speeding citations are up 22.1%, which Chief Maze tied to targeted enforcement activity: “I believe that the citations and traffic stops are up in response to the Operation Safe Streets that we've done.”
Chief Maze described Operation Safe Streets as a multi‑agency effort that paired the department with the Tennessee Highway Patrol and the county sheriff’s office and included collaboration with probation officers to identify residents with active warrants. The chief said, “We did make 7 arrests on warrants, throughout the city of La Verne,” and that an initial list of 26 suspected wanted persons was reduced after vetting because many no longer lived in the city or already had been apprehended.
On significant investigations, Chief Maze said detectives developed suspects in a shots‑fired incident at Veterans Park; a search warrant executed at a residence yielded a firearm that matched shell casings via NIBIN testing and charges are pending. He also described a separate Smyrna warrant service that became an armed barricade: officers used negotiators and the scene ended without injury after the subject exited the house.
The chief addressed social-media rumors and said the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) and federal agencies were not involved in the warrant operation. He also noted the value of bilingual officers during the Smyrna incident, saying one Arabic‑speaking officer provided crucial translation and information.
Board members thanked the department for community engagement and for officers’ participation in events such as a football camp. Chief Maze said similar enforcement operations will continue into July and August.
No formal board action was taken on the police report; it was provided as an informational departmental update.
