Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero and Police Chief Eve Thomas named James Erskine the March Co-Officer of the Month for the Knoxville Police Department. 

Officer Erskine has been with KPD since January 2014.

On the morning of March 14, 2018, Officer Erskine was on patrol when a vehicle caught his eye.  A Chevy Tahoe was backed into a parking space at the Motel 6 on Merchant Center Boulevard with a motorcycle leaning against the rear bumper.  When Officer Erskine investigated he discovered there were two license plates on the vehicle, one zip-tied over the other, and neither were registered to a Tahoe.  Officer Erskine ran the VIN number from the Tahoe and discovered the vehicle was stolen from Morristown.  

Officer Erskine began a canvass of the motel attempting to find the driver.  The canvass led him to room 240 where he found Robert Jackson, 27, of Powell.  Jackson initially denied any knowledge of the Tahoe, but later provided the key to the vehicle.  Jackson, a convicted felon (robbery), was found to have an outstanding warrant.  

After consenting to a search of his room, Officer Erskine located a backpack that contained a loaded Taurus 9mm pistol, 53 grams of Marijuana, 34 grams of methamphetamine, .5 grams of heroin, 6 Suboxone stripes, several clear empty baggies, and a digital scale.  

Chief Thomas said, “Officer Erskine was not patrolling this area by happenstance.  He was in an area that he knew was common with drug activity and accompanying drug-related calls for service.  He chose to be in an area he knew needed attention; he chose to get out of his car and investigate a vehicle that just felt wrong.  The result was a violent drug dealer taken out of our community.”