Blog: City Blog

KPD Officer Delivers Groceries to Snowbound 90-Year-Old: 'I Love Taking Care of My Community'

If you're snowbound and in trouble, it's good to have a Knoxville police officer like John Morgan looking out for you.

"We got a call about a 90-year-old man in Colonial Village who was running low on supplies," says Morgan, a 23-year KPD veteran and Central District Community Partnership Officer. "So I got some milk, bread, peanut butter, frozen pizzas, those sorts of things he liked to eat.

"His road was solid snow and ice. It was hard to get to. He was thankful and wanted to pay me, but I told him, 'Oh no, I got it taken care of.'

"My mom could have been in his situation. I love taking care of my community."

KPD Police Officer John Morgan

During a week and a half of bitter cold mid-January weather and treacherous snow-covered back roads, KPD officers responded to more than 3,300 calls for service. That included 296 welfare checks and about 850 responses to wrecks and disabled vehicles.

KPD also made a number of high-profile arrests: A suspect in the December armed carjacking of a U.S. Postal Service driver was arrested after an all-day coordinated operation; another armed carjacking suspect was arrested three days later following a vehicle and foot chase.

But Knoxville police officers also delivered Mobile Meals to shut-in elderly residents, and they opened tent flaps at camp sites to check on individuals experiencing homelessness. Morgan and other officers picked up campers and drove them to community warming centers - undoubtably saving lives.

"We were checking on people in their homes, and we were checking on cars off the side of the road, making sure no one was hurt inside," Morgan says. "We were checking the homeless camps. 'Are you OK? Need a ride to a warming center?'

"I was doing what I could do, and I'm glad all our officers were out helping people."

Posted by evreeland On 08 February, 2024 at 7:57 AM