Commissioner Jeff Long and Tennessee Department of Safety officials briefed the Finance, Ways and Means Committee on Oct. 29 on staffing, communications modernization and law‑enforcement operations, including the Memphis task force.

Long opened the session by thanking the committee for prior investments and said the department had not received COVID or ARPA funds. He emphasized public‑safety operations across the state and praised the communications program now known as the Tennessee Advanced Communications Network.

Why it matters: The department’s staffing and interoperability decisions affect response times for emergencies, traffic enforcement on interstates and coordination with local and federal partners in large incidents.

Key takeaways

- Trooper staffing and road safety: Colonel Matt Perry (Tennessee Highway Patrol) said the agency has grown by roughly 400 troopers since 2020 and the highway patrol’s planning model suggests a minimum workforce need near 1,600 troopers to account for vehicle miles traveled and program work. Perry said traffic fatalities have fallen and, if current trends hold, Tennessee could record a 10‑year low in traffic fatalities for the year. (Speaker: Matt Perry.)

- Memphis operation: Commissioner Long described a large, multi‑agency operation in Memphis, with troopers and partners focused on confronting violent crime and traffic issues. He described juvenile‑recovery efforts and said the interoperability radio network had been decisive in rescue operations during Hurricane Helene and other events.

- Interoperable radio network: Long said the state locked a vendor (Motorola) to build the advanced radio network and negotiated a four‑year build schedule (down from an eight‑year timetable) at current prices to limit future cost escalation. TDEC and other agencies earlier testified about reliance on interoperable communications for disaster response; the Safety department reported more than 78,000 users across 167 agencies on the network and re‑distributed approximately 2,000 radios to at‑risk counties. (Speaker: Jeff Long.)

- School resource officers and school safety: The department reiterated that the SRO program remains popular; Deputy Commissioner Greg Mays said a temporary dip in participating schools from FY24 to FY25 (roughly 10 schools) appears related to local staffing and recruitment challenges rather than lack of interest. He said the count is expected to increase again in FY26. Mays emphasized local hiring challenges as the primary constraint. (Speaker: Greg Mays.)

Questions and context

Lawmakers asked about federal shutdown risk and reimbursement for disaster response; department finance staff said federal reimbursements for disasters were in process and the agency had sufficient cash position for the near term. Members also asked about driver‑license modernization (digital ID), and the department said the program will be optional, free to users, barred for voting and subject to privacy limits including an explicit geo‑location ban in contract language.

Ending: The department said it would follow up with additional information on school‑resource‑officer uptake, deployment figures for Memphis task‑force shifts and details about radio network buildout timelines.