Tennessee Tech has partnered with the Cookeville Police Department to offer a course called the “Service Learning in Community with Cookeville Police Department.”
Cookeville Police Chief Scott Winfree said the course started in 2021 after former Police Chief Randy Evans had a conversation with a student who was concerned about the treatment of minorities by law enforcement. Winfree said students who participate in the course get a first-hand look at the different operations of local law enforcement. Winfree said the class has led to students reassessing their viewpoints on law enforcement.
“We’re not looking to change people’s minds because we don’t know the background that you know, necessarily all these students came from, but we do ask that they at least be open to understanding that things may have occurred a certain way and don’t necessarily believe the narrative,” Winfree said.
Winfree said the course has been good for the officers as they get to know the students through teaching the course. Winfree said that since the course has started, he believes it has improved relationships between minorities and local law enforcement.
“I was speaking with Tom Savage the other day, who is the President of the local NAACP, and you know, he has said ‘It has made a difference in the way that the police department can be viewed’,” Winfree said.
Winfree said the class counts for three credit hours and contains about 20-25 students. Winfree said the class has been very successful and has also helped in more ways than one.
“We didn’t set out to do this as any type of recruiting tool at all, but we have hired several officers who took the class,” Winfree said.
Winfree said the police department has received great feedback from Tennessee Tech about the course. Winfree said he hopes more students take the class in the future.
