Officer Pressley Officer Sise

Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero and Police Chief David Rausch today named Knoxville Police Department Officers J.D. Sisk, Terry Pate, Steve Sise and Clay Pressley the Co-Officers of the Month for November. Officer Sisk has been with the department since May 2002, Officer Pate since December 1999, Officer Sise since January 1991,and Officer Pressley since September 2009. 

Chief Rausch said that on November 18, 2014, several Repeat Offender Squad Officers (ROS) were returning to the Safety Building when they noticed an individual standing on the sidewalk against a sunny wall in what appeared to be an effort to stay warm. The male did not have adequate clothing for the weather and appeared to be homeless or of limited financial means. The officers got out of their vehicle and approached the male. 

Chief Rausch said, "Officer Sisk asked the male if he was hungry while Officer Pate removed his own hooded sweatshirt he was wearing and gave it to the male. The male immediately put it on. Officer Pate spent the rest of the day wearing a short-sleeve shirt with no complaint of the cold. The male expressed his thanks to the officers for the gift he had been given." 

Two days later, Officers Sise and Pressley received two calls about a male who was believed to be intoxicated and who gave different names. This turned out to be the same male Officers Sisk and Pate had previously helped. When Officer Pressley discovered the true identity of the male he ran his information through records, which revealed he was listed out of Asheville, NC as a missing and endangered person due to his mental illness. Officer Sise immediately began making phone calls to the male's brother and the group home in Asheville where the male resided. After making several unsuccessful attempts to get transportation from Asheville to return the male to his home, the officers arranged for the male to stay overnight at a local mobile crisis facility. The next morning Officer Pressley picked up the male and drove him to Cocke County where personnel from a group home provided the male transportation back to Asheville. 

Chief Rausch said, "None of the officers involved with assisting this male, who through no fault of his own was incapable of caring for himself, ever expected to hear a word about this again. That is not why they did what they did. They did it because it was the right thing to do. We are proud of them as representatives of this department, but more importantly, as representatives of the best in humanity."