KPD e-News Release: Kingsport Police Department Celebrating National Correctional Officers and Employees Week

	Kingsport Police Department Dale Phipps, Chief of Police 200 Shelby Street • Kingsport, TN 37660 http://KingsportTN.gov/City-Services/Police-Department• www.KingsportPDBlog.com
NEWS RELEASE
SUBJECT:		Kingsport Police Department Celebrating National Correctional Officers and Employees Week
DATE:		May 6, 2021

GENERAL NARRATIVE
May 2–8, 2021 is National Correctional Officers and Employees Week, an opportunity to honor all of the men and women serving in corrections. This year, it is more important than ever to thank and support these critical public servants as they perform their duties in an especially challenging time. The Kingsport City Jail, a division of the Kingsport Police Department, is one of the few existing Type II (72-hour) Temporary Holding Facilities in the State of Tennessee. As such, it serves a critical function by providing short-term housing of individuals arrested in the City of Kingsport, without the arresting officer having to take significant valuable time off the street to make the round trip drive to the county jail every time he or she makes a custodial arrest. The Kingsport City Jail staff consists of eight Corrections Officers, serving under the supervision of a Jail Administrator, who oversees all Kingsport City Jail operations. Please join the Kingsport Police Department as we recognize these hard-working individuals and thank them for a job well done. On the first Saturday in May 1984, then-President Ronald Reagan issued a proclamation calling upon the country to pay tribute to corrections professionals. This proclamation created National Correctional Officers Week, a week of commemoration of the work done by correctional officers — an honor many felt was long overdue. “The professionalism, dedication and courage exhibited by these officers throughout the performance of these demanding and often conflicting roles deserve our utmost respect,” stated Reagan in his May 5, 1984, proclamation 5187. “The important work of correctional officers often does not receive the recognition from the public it deserves. It is appropriate that we honor the many contributions and accomplishments of these men and women who are a vital component of the field of corrections.” In 1996, Congress changed the name of National Correctional Officers Week to National Correctional Officers and Employees Week to rightfully credit all of the men and women who serve by working in corrections. This is truly a special week to celebrate and bring awareness to the importance and significance of this profession. National Correctional Officers and Employees Week is a fitting occasion to honor, specifically, the dedicated public servants in our nation’s correctional systems.