TN Department of Safety Announces Promotions

NASHVILLE --- The Tennessee Department of Safety promoted 10 individuals in a 9:30 a.m. ceremony on Tuesday, November 9, 2010 at the THP Training Center located at 283 Stewarts Ferry Pike in Nashville.  

 

Commissioner Dave Mitchell, Colonel Tracy Trott, and members of THP’s Command Staff, presented rank advancements to the following individuals:

 

Rex Prince has been named the new Director of the Criminal Investigation Division (CID), after serving as Captain of the Chattanooga District since July 2009. Prince began his career with the Highway Patrol in 1978 and served as a Road Trooper in all 12 counties of the Nashville District. Prior to his promotion to Captain of the Nashville District, Prince served as Lieutenant in charge of the Ordinance Section from 1996 to 2007. From 1988 to 1992, he served THP Special Operations as a SWAT sniper, K-9 handler, diver and motorcycle patrolman. Prince was also a member of the National Guard, serving 31 years before retiring from the Guard in 2006. His National Guard service included six months in Mosul, Iraq as a Staff Sergeant with the 278^th Aviation Combat Regiment. Originally from Camden, Tenn., Prince is a 1975 graduate of Camden High School and attended Volunteer State Community College. He is married with two grown sons.

 

David McGill has been promoted to Captain over the Chattanooga District. He takes over the helm for Rex Prince, who was named CID Director. Prior to serving as Captain, McGill worked as Homeland Security/Wrecker Lieutenant for the Knoxville District. Captain McGill began with the THP in January of 1986 as a road Trooper in Rutherford County. In 1987, he was transferred to Sevier County until his promotion to Sergeant in 1995. McGill was a sergeant until his 2006 promotion to Lieutenant for the Knoxville region. He is a 1996 graduate of the Northwestern University School of Police Staff and Command and received his associate’s in Criminal Justice Technology from Walter State Community College.    

 

Jarrett Ramsey was promoted to Lieutenant of Special Programs in the Fall Branch District. Ramsey, who joined the THP in 1995, began his first assignment as a Road Trooper in Claiborne County. In 1997, he transferred to Cocke County, where he served as a crash reconstructionist, a DUI Instructor, a riot squad member and a K-9 handler. Lieutenant Ramsey earned a promotion to Sergeant in Sullivan County in 2006 and continued his work with the riot squad as a squad leader. He began working with the Special Programs unit in Fall Branch in 2008. A veteran of the United States Army and Operation Iraqi Freedom, Ramsey, originally from Newport, Tenn., attended Walters State Community College. He and his wife have two children and reside in Parrottsville.

 

A 14-year veteran of the state, Doug Taylor has been elevated to the rank of Lieutenant with the Research, Planning and Development (RPD) Division. He has worked as a Sergeant in RPD since 2006. Lieutenant Taylor began his career as a Commercial Vehicle Enforcement (CVE) Officer at the Robertson County Inspection Station, and also served as a road trooper in Davidson and Robertson County. In 2000, Taylor transferred to the Staff Inspection Unit and three years later became the first CVE Officer assigned to the Colonel’s office. After the CVE Division merged with THP in 2004, Taylor returned to the Staff Inspection Unit as a State Trooper. Taylor, a native of Columbia, Tenn., received his bachelor’s from the University of Tennessee. He was also a graduate of the Northwestern University School of Police Staff and Command.

 

Carl Wilbanks has earned the rank of Special Programs Lieutenant after a 21-year career with the THP. Prior to garnering the rank of Lieutenant, Wilbanks served as a Sergeant with the special programs unit since October of 2008. After starting his career as a Road Trooper in Dickson County in 1989, Lieutenant Wilbanks served as an undercover agent with the THP Criminal Investigations Division for three years. In 1994, he returned to patrolling the roads in Hardeman County until his promotion to sergeant, where he supervised Hardeman, Fayette and Haywood counties, for four years. In 2000, Wilbanks was charged with the task of creating and supervising a Criminal Interdiction Unit for the Memphis District. Three years later, the Bolivar, Tenn., native transferred to Madison County, where he performed as Troop Sergeant for four years. Lieutenant Wilbanks has received certification as a Crash Reconstructionist, a Commercial Motor Vehicle Post Crash Inspector and a CMV Level I, Level VI, cargo tank and hazardous materials inspector.  

 

Greg Roberts has been promoted to sergeant over the newly formed Federal Task Force unit in the Knoxville District’s Appalachia High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA). He also serves as Tennessee’s Appalachia HIDTA Domestic Highway Enforcement Coordinator, and is the supervisor over daily operations for the state’s Interdiction Plus. Sgt. Roberts joined the THP in December of 1987 and was first stationed in Morgan County. In 1989, he transferred to Scott and Campbell counties, where he excelled as a criminal interdiction specialist. A three-time Trooper of the Year recipient, a THP Colonel’s Award honoree and a Tennessee Office of Homeland Security First Responder award winner, Roberts also serves as a national criminal interdiction speaker and law enforcement instructor. He is also a nine-year K-9 handler, a crash reconstructionist and a radar specialist. He and wife, Denise, reside in Huntsville, Tenn.

 

Entering his 15th year with the THP, Dan Moore has been promoted to Assistant Special Agent in Charge with the Criminal Investigation Division, Region 4 (West Tenn.). He has worked with CID since 2007 and is currently assigned to the Department of Homeland Security ICE Division 287 (g) task force; the United States Secret Service task force (Memphis) and the financial crimes task force to the U.S. Attorney’s office in the state’s West District. Moore has also served as a special deputy United States Marshal since 2008. Assistant SAC Moore worked as a uniformed trooper in both Shelby and Weakly County from1995 to 2007. Moore is a certified DUI and Radar Instructor; a reconstructionist, a K-9 handler, and a member of the 8th district Criminal Interdiction Team. He is a graduate of the American International Institute of Polygraph and the National Forensic Academy Class #23, and received his degree from the University of Tennessee at Martin. Moore lives in Sharon, Tenn., with his wife and two children.  

 

Thelma (Poole) Johnson has been promoted to an Administrative Services Assistant 2 with the Tennessee Highway Patrol’s Communications Unit of the Support Services Division. The Mount Juliet, Tenn., native started her career with the Handgun Unit in October of 2006. Within six months, Poole was promoted to the THP Headquarters in Nashville and remained there for three and a half years. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Middle Tennessee State University. Poole lives in Mt. Juliet with her 16-year old daughter.  

 

Shaun Summers has been promoted to Administrative Secretary with the Tennessee Highway Patrol’s Nashville district. During her four-year tenure with the THP, she has worked as a Safety Examiner II and as a member of the handgun unit, managing the handgun schools and instructors, background checks and issuance of handgun permits. Summers, a native of Detroit, Mich., now resides in Antioch, Tenn. 

 

Pamela Smith has been promoted to Administrative Services Assistant 2 with the Office of Professional Responsibility. Smith started her career with the THP in May of 1996 as a Communications Operator 2 in the Cookeville District, and was later promoted to Communications Supervisor in 2001. She also served time in the administrative office in Cookeville until 2007. Smith worked as a National Crime Information Center/Tennessee Information Enforcement Systems Co-Instructor for the department and Alternate Terminal Agency Coordinator for the THP Training Center from 2005 through 2010. She resides in Jamestown, Tenn.

 

Photographs are available upon request.

 

 

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