Commerce and Insurance seeks funds for training, radios and line-of-duty payments; details SRO and recruiting programs

The Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance asked the Finance, Ways and Means Committee on March 10 for targeted budget changes to support law enforcement and public-safety training, depreciation of new apparatus, and line-of-duty death payments.

Major requests and rationale

- Law enforcement salary and staffing adjustments: The department requested statutorily mandated salary step increases for commissioned Tennessee Law Enforcement Training Academy (TLETA) staff (about $50,000) and a salary-survey adjustment for commissioned officers (about $74,000).

- Fire apparatus depreciation: The department said it will take delivery of new fire apparatus and asked for a depreciation allocation (the department described a roughly $1.7 million apparatus cost and requested a $168,000-per-year depreciation allocation over 10 years to prepare for future replacement).

- TACAN-compatible portable radios: The department requested funding for 17 portable radios to ensure instructors and field personnel can tie into the statewide network in a large-scale emergency; the purchase was described as a one-time equipment request.

- Line-of-duty death benefit supplemental: Commerce and Insurance requested a $1,000,000 supplemental to cover line-of-duty death benefit annuities; the department said $400,000 is needed now to cover five-year annuity payments that have come in and $600,000 is requested as contingency to cover future certifications should they occur.

- 1 percent reduction: The department proposed a roughly $140,000 reduction from the captive insurance work unit through reduced travel and promotional spending.

Law enforcement recruiting, retention and SRO training

Department officials described recruiting and retention programs that have used roughly $60 million in appropriations across recent cycles. Commissioner Carter Lawrence said the first $30 million tranche focused on recruitment and a second $30 million tranche emphasized retention. The department reported that about $1.5 million had been paid out from the first tranche, about $17 million had been encumbered to participating agencies, and roughly $10 million remained in that first tranche as of the hearing.

The department said roughly 240 departments were participating in the recruiting program (the department described participation as nearly 70 percent of agencies statewide and noted participating agencies include sheriff and police departments). The department said it would provide a participation list on request.

School resource officer (SRO) support: The department described an SRO training and bonus program funded from the broader recruiting/retention resources and from a separate legislative allocation. The department said: $2.7 million is devoted to training and related expenses (basic SRO training, equipment, lodging and software licensing), and $4.5 million was set aside for SRO-specific bonuses. The department reported paying over $1,000,000 in SRO bonuses to 144 departments covering approximately 1,378 officers.

Questions and follow-up

Committee members asked about the hiring portal funded in a prior cycle; Commerce and Insurance officials said they leveraged an existing Department of Labor infrastructure and branded it for law enforcement but that adoption by local agencies has been lower than hoped due to duplicate data-entry burdens'the department said it will provide participation details.

Chairman Hosey and other members asked about officer turnover and whether state trooper pay increases (THP) had drawn officers away from smaller agencies; the department said it had not yet developed statistics isolating that effect and offered to follow up with data if available.

No committee votes were taken. The department said it would provide follow-up materials, including agency participation lists for recruiting programs and more detail on the SRO spending and bonus distribution.