UTC graduate student Ellie Yates at the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s Chattanooga office, where she completed a summer internship. Photo courtesy of Ellie Yates.
Ellie Yates does not take learning opportunities for granted.
In fact, when the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga graduate student started her summer internship at the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s Chattanooga office, she made it her mission to take part in as many experiences as possible.
“That was my standard day-to-day, asking what’s happening,” Yates said. “I was like, ‘If something’s happening, I’m invited.’”
Yates, who is earning her master’s degree in criminal justice, spent her internship rotating through multiple divisions of the TBI.
She worked alongside agents in the Drug Investigative Division, the Criminal Investigative Division and the Human Trafficking Unit, which she called “the most challenging and fascinating” part of her experience.
At the local level, Yates explained, trafficking can take many forms, including prostitution and crimes against minors.
“I was actually in the passenger seat with the head of human trafficking for Tennessee,” said Yates, who received a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from UTC in 2024. “I got to pick his brain, like ‘What about this? How did you do this?’
“Not only am I getting to watch the case unfold, but I’m also getting to sit there with the expert and ask him questions.”
She also spent time with drug investigators in plain clothes, tagging along as they carried out warrant operations across several counties.
“I didn’t realize how much work goes on behind the scenes,” Yates said. “They’ll spend weeks setting things up so multiple teams can move in at the same time to take down a group.”
While she knew she would be stepping into serious work, she said she didn’t realize how deeply the experience would prepare her for her future career in criminal justice.
“Pretty much everything was new to me,” she said. “A lot of people who get into criminal justice have a relative—usually a parent—who was in the field. My parents weren’t. My mom taught, my dad was a social worker, and we didn’t have weapons in the house. So when I told them what I was doing, they were like, ‘You did what?’
“Just being next to someone who was armed and knowing I’d spend the whole day with them was a completely new experience.”
Yates expressed how much the UTC Department of Criminal Justice prepared her for this experience and the complexities of law enforcement.
“We talk a lot about the interdepartmental politics of it all and the ranking system,” Yates said. “But being out there, you see it firsthand. It’s still that local police department’s role—we’re just there to help.
“The TBI was always great about saying, ‘This is their bust; they just needed extra people,’ or, ‘This is our bust; we just need those people to come in, but we’re handling the nitty-gritty.’ Seeing how that works in real time was really interesting.”
She said the experience also helped her better understand community policing, a topic frequently discussed in the program.
“Being around officers every day showed me how much that philosophy matters,” she said. “It decreases the stigma around police and helps them do their job better, but it also helps citizens feel more protected and feel like they can rely on the police more.”
Dr. Rick Dierenfeldt, head of UTC’s Department of Criminal Justice, said Yates’ growth has been remarkable to watch.
“Ellie was a standout student in our undergraduate program and one we worked to recruit into the MSCJ program,” Dierenfeldt said. “As an undergrad, she did all of the right things to set herself up for success—and not just in terms of her coursework. Ellie took advantage of our internship program, secured an excellent placement and started to develop her professional network.”
Yates also serves as managing director of the department’s Violence Reduction Initiative, a graduate assistantship that has her coordinating funding opportunities and connecting with community partners.
“She has continued to demonstrate that our investment in her was a good investment,” Dierenfeldt added. “I wasn’t surprised when she secured a summer internship with TBI. I knew it was a highly competitive and extremely selective process, but Ellie is built for those kinds of challenges. And true to her nature, she made the most of that opportunity.”
Rick Dierenfeldt and Ellie Yates
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