4-3-609 - Exercise of police powers by employees.
4-3-609. Exercise of police powers by employees.
(a) Those employees of the department of correction as the commissioner shall designate who have been trained in the use of firearms are vested with the powers and authority of peace officers, including the power to carry weapons, and shall exercise such powers and authority only:
(1) While on the grounds of the institutions under the supervision of the department;
(2) While transporting inmates between institutions;
(3) While pursuing escapees from such institutions; or
(4) While aiding local law enforcement officials in the search and apprehension of escapees.
(b) (1) Subject to the written directive of the commissioner, persons employed by the department of correction as an internal affairs special agent or as an internal affairs director who have successfully completed firearms qualification training shall have the authority to carry weapons for the purposes of their offices and while in the performance of their assigned duties, including, but not limited to, conducting authorized investigations and assisting federal, state and local law enforcement in matters relating to the duties and responsibilities of the department. The required firearms qualification training for internal affairs agents and directors shall include, at a minimum, forty (40) hours initial training and eight (8) hours annual in-service training in firearms qualification administered by an instructor with certification from the Tennessee correction academy's firearms instructor program or from a police firearms instructor training program conducted or sanctioned by the federal bureau of investigation or the National Rifle Association. Successful completion of training shall include demonstration of proficiency of at least seventy percent (70%) both during day and darkness on all weapons issued or authorized by the department of correction, and proficiency of at least seventy percent (70%) on a stress-exertion course, both day and night, which has a laterally moving target.
(2) Persons employed by the department of correction as internal affairs special agents or as an internal affairs director shall have the full power to administer oaths and take oral and written statements.
(c) The commissioner shall also establish internal procedures concerning appropriate exercise of the powers vested by this section.
[Acts 1980, ch. 485, § 1; 1985, ch. 10, § 1; 2002, ch. 525, § 1; 2009, ch. 191, § 1.]