Department of Safety Hires New Commander

The department of safety promoted two troopers to the top positions today, and hired a long-time government employee to head the driver licensing department.

Captain Mike Walker will become the head of the Tennessee Highway Patrol and Captain Albert Strawther will be his second in command.

Gerald Nicely is interim Director of the Department of Safety which oversees the T-H-P. He says the department will benefit from having Walker and Strawther in their new positions.

“Both of these are longtime veterans of the patrol, I’ve made it very clear we’re making changes in the department, the way we do things. We’ll be getting the Kroll report in momentarily, within the next week or so, and they’ll be charged with helping us institute some significant changes.”

Governor Phil Bredesen hired Kroll Incorporated in December to analyze alleged ticket-fixing and cronyism problems within the THP, and to recommend changes.

Greta Dajani will head the Driver License Issuance Division. She’s a former employee of the Department of Health and Human Services, and also worked for Nicely while he was at the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency.