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Officer Austin Jordan Selected as November 2020 Officer of the Month Award Recipient

Knoxville Police Department Officer Austin Jordan has been selected as the recipient of the November 2020 Officer of the Month Award, it was announced on Wednesday. It marks the third Officer of the Month recognition of 2020 for Officer Jordan, who was also selected to receive the award for February and July.

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.

Austin Jordan was selected to receive the November Officer of the Month Award by the KPD Awards and Commendations Committee because of his work over a two-day period that led to the arrest of two violent offenders.

On November 18, 2020, Jordan conducted a traffic stop in the area of Sherman and Delaware. In the course of that stop, it was revealed the one of the occupants had an outstanding warrant. The female occupant, who had a previous felony conviction, was taken into custody and found in possession of a handgun. Following that, all occupants of the vehicle were removed for further investigation. A search of the vehicle ultimately revealed a sawed-off shotgun. The male occupant who claimed possession of the shotgun had multiple previous felony convictions, including for manslaughter out of Alabama. Both the male and female subjects were arrested for felon in possession of a firearm, while both firearms were confiscated.

The very next night, Officer Jordan recovered a vehicle taken in a carjacking and arrested the suspected carjacker. Back on November 10, officers responded to a carjacking that had occurred in the parking lot of an apartment complex in West Knoxville. The male victim had just arrived home from work when he was approached by an unknown male, who produced what appeared to be a gun and demanded the victim’s car keys. The victim complied and the suspect fled in his vehicle.

After that initial incident, Officers Jordan had expended substantial energy to locate the vehicle that was taken. Those efforts paid off on November 19 when he located the vehicle at a gas station on Pleasant Ridge Road. Officer Jordan observed a male matching the description of the carjacker exit the store and walk to the vehicle. At that point, Officer Jordan approached the male and took him into custody without incident. The suspect was found to be a 16-year-old male. After further investigation, the juvenile suspect was charged with carjacking.

Jordan was recognized by the Awards and Commendations Committee for his proactive and diligent work on back-to-back days that led to the arrest of two violent offenders, the removal of firearms from convicted felons and the recovery of a victim’s vehicle.

Posted by serland On 24 February, 2021 at 11:43 AM