37 years later
Chief Jim Shetterly retiring from Rocky Top
After 37 years with the department and 31 years as chief, Jim Shetterly will be retiring Sept. 29 from the Rocky Top Police Department. (photo:G Chambers Williams III )
But that will change when the chief hangs up his uniform and turns in his badge at the end of the day Sept. 29.
After 37 years of service to the people of Lake City/Rocky Top, Shetterly says it’s time for him to retire – at least from this endeavor that has occupied most of his working career.
He’s proud that he’s brought stability and longevity to the position, after having served four different chiefs during his first six years with the department.
“I started out as a dispatcher/jailer, and then became a patrol officer in summer 1987,” he said during an interview with The Courier News. “I was made assistant chief in 1991.”
He also notes, “I was the last chief for Lake City, and the first chief for Rocky Top.” The city officially changed its name on June 26, 2014, but many of the long-time residents still prefer to call it Lake City.
Shetterly was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and spent his early years there, but moved to Lake City when he was in the eighth grade, with his parents, James and Arlene Shetterly. His dad was a Lake City native, who moved to Baltimore after he served with the U.S. military in Korea.
He met his wife, Pam, in high school, and they were married in March 1986. They raised two sons in Lake City -- Zachary and Nicholas. Nicholas is a school resource officer for the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office, and oversees McDonald’s restaurant franchises in several states.
Pam Shetterly is a retired Anderson County Schools English teacher.
During his tenure on the Police Department, “The town hasn’t really changed a lot,” Chief Shetterly said, “But when I started, we did have a hospital, and when it closed that hurt our city.
“Downtown businesses slowly closed beginning in the late 1980s and early ’90s. I attribute that to the big box stores, especially with a Walmart within 20 minutes in each direction. That changed how people could run a business.
“But the people have mainly stayed,” Shetterly said. “We do have a lot of new people, too. And we’ve seen a shift to rentals from people owning their homes, especially in the north end of the city. Almost all of the north-end businesses were locally owned; but now they’re mostly owned by corporations from elsewhere.”
Shetterly said he has also seen an increase in homelessness in the past four years, but not drastically so.
“We still get a few people off I-75 who are mostly just passing through,” he said. “We have about 15 homeless people who stay here, but probably 13 are from here -- Rocky Top, Medford, Cherry Bottom and Briceville. This is the only place they’ve ever known.”
As for the Police Department, it still has seven officers, but a new position was authorized in the new year’s budget, Shetterly said.
“We just haven’t had anyone apply for the job yet,” he said. “And we had one officer leave us last week to take a job in Clinton.”
Pay is probably the biggest impediment to hiring officers in Rocky Top, he said.
“Everyone else in Anderson County pays way more than we do, although at least we do get all of our healthcare paid for,” Shetterly said. “But young people aren’t as interested in that as they are in the pay.”
As for how police work in Rocky Top is different now from what it was when he began in 1986, “The biggest change I’ve seen is technology,” Shetterly said.
“We didn’t even have a computer in the building when I started,” he said “We got our first desktop computer in 1989. Now all the patrol cars have them. We can receive messages from dispatch via text or computer. The technology has made it better.”
Also, “Equipment upgrades we’ve made in the last five years have really helped the department,” he said. “We went to take-home [police] cars for our officers, which helps with recruiting and retaining officers. We made an effort to make all of them the same. We have added an officer position in this”
Shetterly said he doesn’t yet know what he will do after he retires, but he does plan to spend some leisure time with his wife before starting anything new.
“I’m going to take some time off, go a few places with my wife – travel a bit,” he said. “I’ll wait a couple of months and go from there. I’ll probably go back to work; I just don’t know what I’ll be doing. Might be something entirely new.”
As for parting comments, Shetterly said:
“I’d like to tell the people of Rocky Top that I’ve appreciated their help and support over the years, and that I hope they will continue to support the Police Department any way they can. I wish the city and the Police Department the best in all their future endeavors.
“I’d also like to thank all of the past city councils and mayors for the support they’ve shown me. I’ve had a great career.”
As for the town he loves, Shetterly said:
“Rocky Top is a great place to live and raise a family. I’ve lived here since the eighth grade. I’m not afraid to live here.”