Police Department

The City of Bristol Tennessee has 30.6 square miles and a population of 27,109. Our officers patrol 450 miles of roadway. We strive to attain the highest levels of training and education and focus our work on community service and involvement. Our Department has 73 sworn officers, 10 sworn part-time officers and 27 civilian employees.

Police Patch New

Police Survey

It is the goal of the Bristol TN Police Department to provide our citizens and visitors with courteous, professional, and efficient law enforcement services.   The Departments Professional Standards Unit has created a brief survey to give us a better understanding of the concerns of the community and to continually look for ways to improve our service.  Please help us with our mission by clicking the link above and giving your feedback.    

Community Involved

Our community services range from conventional police patrol to proactive crime prevention involving youth, adults, and senior citizens.

Officers are involved in outreach education at schools to help kids resist drugs and gang activity. We also recruit citizens to attend police academies in order to get to know us better and learn our challenges. These academies lead to more citizen involvement and volunteer help. Auxiliary volunteers save the city more than $100,000 each year.

A Commitment to Service

We are proud that our response rate to emergencies averages less than 7 minutes. Our department also protects the community with specialty units such as K-9, specialized drug units, bomb and SWAT response teams.

Traffic Safety

Traffic safety is also a fundamental role of our department. Our traffic safety program was judged against other agencies of similar size across the state, then nationally and earned distinction with awards of 1st in Tennessee and 3rd in the nation. Our comprehensive traffic safety program encompasses effective outcomes in policies, education, training, recognition programs and enforcement.

National Accreditation

In recognition of our continuing quest for excellence, the Bristol Tennessee Police Department won national accreditation in 1996 from the Commission of Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA®). In 2020, we were re-accredited for our 8th consecutive accreditation award. The department also served as pilot agency for the newly commissioned Tennessee Law Enforcement Accreditation Program and became one of the first agencies in the state to acquire state accredited status.