Partnership takes center stage as UTC hosts CPD academy graduation

For the first time, the Chattanooga Police Department celebrated its academy graduation on the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga campus.

The UTC Department of Criminal Justice hosted the Sept. 4 ceremony in the Fine Arts Center’s Roland Hayes Concert Hall, where 14 graduates—including one fire investigator—received recognition for completing 22 weeks of training.

UC Foundation Professor Rick Dierenfeldt, head of the Department of Criminal Justice, spent more than a decade as a police officer in Northwest Missouri before pursuing a career in academia. He said hosting the academy graduation fits the work Criminal Justice has been doing with CPD.

“This is a special moment for newly commissioned officers and their loved ones. It marks the culmination of months of training and, in many cases, achieving a lifelong goal of becoming a police officer. These men and women are entering into a profession that can be extremely dangerous and draining but one that is also richly rewarding,” Dierenfeldt said.

The evening drew a packed house. More than 30 current CPD and UTC Police Department officers joined hundreds of family and friends to witness the presentation of diplomas, the pinning of badges and the oath of office administered by Chattanooga City Court Judge Sherry Paty.

“On a personal level, it is difficult not to feel sentimental,” Dierenfeldt said. “I graduated from the police academy more than 20 years ago, and I can still remember how it felt to walk across that stage. As it happens, my own graduation was also hosted by a local university, and I returned there years later to complete my bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. It’s quite something to see that come full circle.

“It’s a humbling reminder that I’m not a young man anymore, but—at the same time—I’m incredibly grateful that we could support a valued community partner.”

The relationship has been steady, Dierenfeldt said. CPD has taken UTC students as interns in the Homicide Unit, Crime Scene Unit, Digital Forensics Unit and Public Information Unit, offered ride-alongs and brought students into the Real Time Intelligence Center.

That student involvement has been paired with faculty-led research. UTC faculty and students have supported CPD with research and data analysis tied to gun-violence reduction and policy evaluation.

Criminal Justice used the graduation to continue outreach, staffing a recruiting table for prospective undergraduate and graduate students before and after the ceremony.

CPD Police Chief John Chambers, who joined the department in 1999 and became chief in 2024, said the campus graduation marked a step toward deeper collaboration.

“I believe this is the first academy graduation that we’ve been able to have here, and we’re looking to grow that relationship with UTC,” Chambers said before the ceremony. “We look to our local education systems to feed us police officers. Officers who come out with degrees are extremely qualified. That’s who we’re definitely wanting to recruit—that caliber of candidate.

“It just makes sense to be able to have the academy graduation here and foster that relationship.”

Chambers also emphasized the importance of continued education for officers once they are on the job.

“I think anytime that you can seek professional development, whether it’s from a leadership aspect or from an educational aspect, that’s paramount,” he said. “It’s paramount to the lifeblood of our organization as a whole, and if we want to continue to move forward as an industry and law enforcement as a whole, then furthering your education and that knowledge base is very important.”

Dierenfeldt said the department’s decision to host the event was intentional. The goal was to support CPD and to bring more community members into UTC spaces.

“This was a chance to return the support we’ve received from the Chattanooga Police Department over the last several years,” he said. “It’s also just a great opportunity to get folks on campus who may not be familiar with UTC and everything it has to offer.

“The Fine Arts Center, and Roland Hayes Concert Hall in particular, are remarkably beautiful. By hosting this event, we had the chance to showcase those spaces. My hope is that everyone who attended—officers and their families and friends—now feels more connected to UTC. We are proud to celebrate this moment with them.”

Dierenfeldt would like to see the partnership continue in this format.

“I would like nothing more than to continue to make UTC home for future academy graduations,” he said.

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