Tennessee Comes Up ACES

“I’m from the government and I’m here to help you.”

Michael James - Transport Topics
Michael James - Transport Topics
John Harmon is among the ACES officers who help teach would-be-truck drivers, as Tennessee combines techniques in a “community policing” approach.
The line, usually associated with a joke about the biggest lies ever told, is delivered with an almost straight face by Officer John Harmon, who is addressing a group of student truck drivers at the Chattanooga State Technical School in Tennessee.

Turning his “Smokey Bear” hat, Harmon speaks to his audience. Tall and lean, dressed in crisp gray and black with military creases framing his back and an automatic pistol at his hip, Harmon looks every inch a state trooper, which, technically, he is not.

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His badge says “Commercial Vehicle Enforcement,” and though he has full arrest powers and is qualified to inspect a truck, Harmon is really more of a teacher than a police officer.



He is one of Tennessee’s ACES.

For the full story, see the May 22 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.