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Chase Sons, who had previously been chosen as Interim Police Chief following the resignation of former Chief Jason Williams, was officially approved to be Tullahoma Police Chief in the second February Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting.

At the beginning of the meeting, the item to consider the appointment of a police chief was moved to the top of the agenda, as the meeting room was filled with police officers showing out to support Sons. This motion was made by Alderman Daniel Berry and seconded by Alderman Bobbie Wilson.

City Administrator Jason Quick was asked to officially give his recommendation for police chief. Quick read his recommendation, which detailed a national search for the next chief that started in November. With the help of Municipal Technical Advisory Service (MTAS) Police Management Consultant David Moore, the search for a new police chief produced “three quantifiable data sets to assist in consideration of the best candidate for the position,” according to Quick.

Quick said that Sons scored the highest among all the candidates in all three data sets for the position. He further said that Moore told him it was extremely rare for that to happen. The approval was then put to a vote, and Berry motioned with Mayor Pro Tem Jenna Amacher seconding. The motion passed unanimously.

Each of the board members congratulated and praised Sons for his service to the city and expressed their excitement at having him fill the position. Sons was then given the floor to accept the position. Sons thanked his wife and family first, and was asked by Amacher to bring them to the front to stand by him.

“My family stood beside me through this whole process and through my entire career. They’ve put up with a lot of tireless nights, missed ball games, you name it. I wouldn’t be here without them,” he said.

Sons also thanked the board and Quick for recognizing his hard work.

“I am deeply honored and humbled by this opportunity to take on the new challenges and responsibilities,” he said. “I also want to thank my supervision staff and the men and women of the Tullahoma Police Department. Without you guys, this would not be possible. This is an amazing group of people.”

He accepted the position and expressed his gratitude to the board, and was met with a standing ovation from the entire room.