When Warren County was founded in 1807, it was like most rural areas of the time where county wide law enforcement duties rested mainly in the hands of the sheriff. The sheriff also doubled as the tax collector. Being the county seat and the center of commerce, McMinnville was the main concentration of Warren Countyโs population and soon started to develop the need for an increased level of law en
forcement. From that need, the McMinnville Police Department began to emerge. Municipal ledgers indicate the McMinnville Police Department was actually formed on November 17, 1933. However, records also show numerous law enforcement officers were hired by city leaders as early as the period just after the Civil War. For example, in 1868, two "special policemen" were appointed for the town of McMinnville and served for 30 months. There were probably city law enforcement officers before the Civil War, but it is unclear as many records of the period were destroyed during Union occupation of the city. Several men filled the role of city law enforcement officer in the early 1900`s, including J. Hutchins, H. Molloy, and Jackson Byars. However, most people accept E.F. Chambers as the first Chief of Police of an organized police department. The department consisted of Chambers and two sworn police officers. The Chief of Police was then elected in the same manner as the mayor and alderman until the mid-1940's when he began to be appointed by the board of mayor and alderman. Chambers was elected by citizens in 1931, 1933 and 1935. Those who have served as Police Chief include Chambers, J.M. 'J*p' Bain, Eldridge Youngblood, Lon Parish, 'Fats' Hendrix, A.E. 'Doc' Grissom, Bill Beliew, Herman Mitchell, 'Red' Jared, Charlie Reeves, Ralph Griffith, Herb Graeser, Bobby Southard, Dickie Kesey, Joe Melton, Charlie Sewell, Bryan Denton and Nichole Mosley. Nichole Mosley is the current and first female Chief of Police of McMinnville. She heads the department which consists of 39 sworn officers, 1 K-9 and 3 clerks and. Deputy Chief Mike Lane is second in command . Det. Tony Jenkins heads up the Detective Division. The Operations Division consists of 29 officers. The division shift commanders are Lieutenant Jody Cavanaugh, Lieutenant Ben Cantrell, Lieutenant Paul Springer and Lieutenant Bobby Anderson. The Uniform Division works 12.25 hour shifts, rotating weekends off. The department serves a population of approximately 14,000. On average, monthly, the department answers 1,980 calls for service, issues 400 citations, investigates 60 traffic accidents, and makes 100 arrests. Officers routinely hold public education forums on a variety of subjects such as crime prevention, drug abuse awareness and safety programs
