The City of Brownsville Police Department services the Brownsville municipal city limits. The BPD provides law enforcement and peacekeeping services to over 10,000 people and over 9 square miles.

The Mission of the Brownsville Police Department is to provide the citizens within our community a safe community free of crime, and the fear of crime, and continually work to enhance the quality of life, through professionalism, trust, communication, and team work.

A high standard of professionalism, which begins with a dedication to friendly service through the empowerment of competent, well trained employees, and our demonstrated integrity, which will provide a role model for our community.

A high level of trust between our community and our department, by being accountable for our actions, acting reliable and responsible, we will strive to promote a relationship with the community that is sincere, honest, and ethical.

We will use effective communication through listening and understanding, with care and compassion, to the diversity of our community and our organization. By maintaining and projecting an approachable, open-minded attitude and respecting appropriate confidentiality, we will ensure open two-way communication.

The effectiveness of teamwork through flexibility, support, competent leadership, fairness, and respect for cultural diversities, we will cooperate in an atmosphere of interdependency with our community in achieving our common goals.

In 2001, Brownsville / Haywood County were ranked very high in several crash categories by the Tennessee Dept. of Safety's crash reporting system. From the 95 counties that make up Tennessee, we were ranked #1 for fatal crashes, 4th for injury crashes, 12th for alcohol related crashes, 19th for percent of children unrestrained and 12th overall.

With support from the City, County, and funding from the Governors Highway Safety Office we started the Crash Enforcement Reduction Team "C.E.R.T." program. State of the art Traffic Radar, Digital Video Camera systems, DUI Checkpoint Equipment and Traffic Safety Literature were purchased. The full time City officer, County Deputy and part-time officers participating in the program attended trainings on Radar use, DUI/ Standardized Field Sobriety Testing "SFST", Child Protective Systems "CPC", Criminal Interdiction, Spanish for Patrol, and specialized classes on traffic stops and court testimony.

The CERT program presented classes in the Haywood County School System on Underage Drinking, Traffic Stops, Impaired/ Drugged Driving, Child Seat installation and the importance of using safety restraints. These classes were coordinated with the School Resource Officers and the School Principals. The CERT program utilized youth in the High School to promote the Buckle Bear and Crash Dummy Programs in the Head start and Preschool Programs. Classroom hands -on programs were a hit with students. A DUI Mock Crash was conducted for graduating seniors prior to prom and graduation with special speakers from MADD.
Youth also volunteered passing out literature at checkpoints, conducting seatbelt surveys, and with demonstrations at community events with the City's DUI simulator.

The CERT program made local cable TV and Radio Public Service announcements during peak traffic times. Quarterly free child seat inspections were conducted with updates and information being disseminated by the local newspaper. Funding from the City and GHSO enabled CERT to start the only child seat program in West Tennessee. When a driver is cited for a child restraint violation, they receive a free Full Size or Booster seat for the child to be safely restrained. Free seats are also given out at child seat checkpoints quarterly.

Specialized enforcements were conducted in school zones for child restraints, during holidays, school events and randomly each month. During the beginning of the program 90 - 100 citations would be issued in a two hour period, primarily for adult restraints. In just 6 months a dramatic event was occurring. Seatbelt usage increased from 49% to 68% and crashes decreased 15%. We have continued this program educating and enforcing these specific traffic laws to reach our goals. Currently two years into the program, seatbelt usage is at 82%, vehicle crashes are down 39% and the citizens of Brownsville / Haywood County are safer as they travel each day.

Beginning July 1, state law is changing how children must be restrained in car safety seats. The Brownsville Police Department is advising parents, grandparents and other caregivers of the changes, especially those affecting older children, so they can prepare for compliance.

Brownsville Police and have conducted child safety seat inspections for several years now. The check up program has focused on proper installation of the seats. The police are now working to alert the public to the new laws aimed at better protecting all youngsters when they travel in a motor vehicle.

• Any child under age 1 (even if he or she weighs more than 20 pounds) or any child weighing 20 pounds or less must be in a rear-facing child restraint, in the rear seat if available. Current law allows the child to face forward.
• Any child ages 1 through 3 years who weighs 20 pounds or more has to be transported in a forward-facing child restraint seat, in the rear seat if available. Currently, the child seat can be placed in the front seat.
• Any child 4 through 8 years who is less than 60 inches tall must be in a belt-positioning booster seat, in the rear seat if available.
• Children ages 9 through 12 years or any child through 12 years of age who is 60 inches or taller must use a seat belt system and be placed in the rear seat if available.
• Youth ages 13 through 15 years must use a passenger restraint system.
• Provision is made for the transportation of children in medically prescribed modified child restraints.
• The driver of the car is responsible for making sure that children under age 16 are properly restrained and may be charged and fined $50 for violation of the law. If the child's parent or legal guardian is present in the car but not driving, the parent or legal guardian is responsible for making sure that the child is properly transported and may be fined for non-compliance.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration offers information about child safety seats, seat recalls and installation at its website www.nhtsa.gov. Also, visit www.tennessee.gov.

The City of Brownsville provides a website utilizing current City staff. Over the past year, many hours were expended in an updated design. The changing nature of City business requires the site to be updated continuously. It has been determined that the most effective (timeliness and cost) method for updating the site is to have each department update their portion of the site. Thus, in most cases, each City department has accepted the responsibility for maintaining their portion of the site.

The City of Brownsville maintains this web site to enhance public access to the City's information. This is a service that is continually under development and information changes daily on some pages. While we try to keep the information timely and accurate, we can make no guarantees. We will make an effort to correct errors brought to our attention. Users should be aware that the information available on this web site or links to other sites beyond the home page may not reflect official positions of the City of Brownsville, or necessarily the opinions of City employees.

References made to any specific commercial product or service, manufacturer, vendor, or hyperlinks to their respective site does not constitute or imply endorsement or partialness by the City of Brownsville. The City of Brownsville has several employees that post certain sections which comprise the complete Brownsville site. The views and opinions of those authors do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the City or its employees, and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes.

The City of Brownsville nor any of its employees assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information disclosed. This includes any documents or forms which are posted. No copyrighted material is posted on this site without the written consent of the owner. Permission has been granted to the City of Brownsville for using photos taken of any individuals.

Please be aware that the City can not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of information linked to our site. In addition, bolded or colored text does not imply importance, nor is it intended to endorse any views expressed or products or services offered by the author of the reference or the organization operating the server on which the reference is maintained.

The City of Brownsville appreciates you taking time to visit our site. You are welcome to print documents or download pictures contained on this site. Although no confidential information is stored on this server, commercial use of this site is prohibited without written consent from the City of Brownsville.