Blog: KPD News & Alerts

Four Selected to Receive August Officer of the Month Honors

Four Knoxville Police Department officers have been recognized as Officer of the Month recipients for August 2020, the KPD announced on Wednesday.

The KPD typically recognizes those employees who are selected to receive awards during public news conferences. Unfortunately, due to months-long and ongoing COVID-19 restrictions regarding public gatherings and social distance requirements, the KPD was unable to safely host a news conference in the second half of 2020. In lieu of that, the final award and commendation recipients of 2020 will be announced in the coming days via news release and social media.

For August 2020, the KPD Awards and Commendations Committee selected four officers to receive Officer of the Month commendations. Those officers were Krista Davies, Nelson Hamilton, Derek Baird and Alan Meisheid.

Krista Davies, who serves as an investigator within the Criminal Investigation Division, was picked as an Officer of the Month recipient for her efforts on two investigations in particular that resulted in the apprehension of two violent offenders.

Through extensive investigative efforts, countless hours of labor, and constant communication between multiple local, state and federal law enforcement partners, Officer Davies played a monumental role in the successful apprehension of Tomier Lundy, who was wanted for multiple outstanding warrants. Among those warrants was a first-degree murder charge from an incident that occurred in April 2020.

After Lundy was arrested in Charlotte, North Carolina on August 13, Officer Davies resumed her investigative efforts to apprehend another wanted fugitive, Eric Fairchild, who had outstanding warrants for felony murder and especially aggravated robbery. Once all active leads had been exhausted regarding Fairchild’s whereabouts, Davies continued to pursue new sources of information until a possible location of Morristown, Tennessee was determined. On August 26, Fairchild was located and taken into custody without incident in Morristown.

Those are only two examples of the investigative contributions Officer Davies made in the month of August, as she was directly involved in the successful apprehension of at least six violent offenders in the Knoxville area alone.

Davies was selected by the Awards and Commendations Committee as an August Officer of the Month winner for her selfless devotion to the apprehension of violent offenders, facilitation of vital partnerships and intelligence sharing among multiple law enforcement agencies and behind-the-scenes contributions to the Department and City of Knoxville.

Nelson Hamilton and Derek Baird were tabbed as August Officer of the Month recipients for their actions in assisting a person in crisis on August 28.

On that day at around 8 p.m., Hamilton and Baird were dispatched to a call regarding a woman who was standing on the side of I-40 West near a bridge. Both officers arrived quickly on scene and worked to locate the woman, who they found near the pond adjacent to the Discovery Channel building. Once both officers approached the woman, it was apparent she was in crisis and had suicidal ideations.

Officer Hamilton began to communicate verbally with the woman. Using Crisis Intervention Team training techniques, the officers were able to calm her down after several minutes of communication. However, with the situation now stabilized, the woman lost her footing and fell into the pond. At this point, Officer Baird jumped into the pond and pulled her back to safety with assistance from Officer Hamilton.

Hamilton and Baird were selected as August Officer of the Month recipients for their hasty and empathetic response to a fluid situation, which likely prevented serious injury or worse.

Alan Meisheid was the final recipient of the August Officer of the Month award, earning that distinction for his efforts to quickly locate a carjacking suspect and facilitate the apprehension of said suspect.

On August 28 at around 5 p.m., officers responded to the area of Mississippi Avenue for a reported carjacking. A witness observed a male suspect pull a male victim from his vehicle, assault him and flee the scene in the victim’s vehicle. Upon meeting with the victim, who was found at Mississippi and Jordan, a description of the vehicle was broadcast to patrol units.

Officer Meisheid responded to the area to circulate for the vehicle and suspect, and quickly located a two-door Acura matching the description from the carjacking on Stair Avenue near Reed Street. Instead of immediately acting, Officer Meisheid coordinated with responding units, and officers were able to approach the vehicle and take the suspect into custody without incident.

The victim’s wallet was found in the vehicle, while it was also confirmed that the vehicle was the one taken during the carjacking. Additionally, the suspect was positively identified by both the victim and witness. The suspect, Eric Tuyisenge, was arrested and charged with carjacking.

Meisheid was selected to receive the Officer of the Month award for his diligence to quickly locate a violent offender and savvy decision-making to coordinate an effective response, which led to the safe apprehension of the suspect.

Posted by serland On 27 January, 2021 at 12:40 PM