Howard Buttrey: Brentwood’s First Police Chief

Brentwood Police Department

When Howard Buttrey started as the Brentwood Chief of Police on February 1, 1971, he began with nothing. By 1989, he was able to get the police department accredited with the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA). His legacy remains strong, as they are the oldest continuously accredited department in the state, and they are a Flagship Agency with CALEA.

Early Beginnings

“[He} started the department with a $40,000 grant,” said former Police Chief Ricky Watson. “That was for two fully equipped patrol cars and four officers including himself.”

The United States Department of Justice’s Law Enforcement Assistance Administration grant allowed the city to have one officer patrolling each of the three shifts. The patrols officially began on April 1, 1971.

According to the Brentwood Police Department website, initially, the Berry Hill Police Department and the Williamson County Sheriff’s Department dispatched Brentwood officers. They got their own 911 Communications Center when Brentwood’s first police headquarters opened in 1974.

The headquarters was located in a small building in the back of an Exxon station near Franklin Road and Town Center Way.

Buttrey’s Background

“Howard grew up in Nashville,” said Watson. “[He] started his career with the Nashville Police Department before it became Metro, then he worked with the Belle Meade Police Department for 13 years rising to the rank of Chief for his last three years with the department.”

During his tenure as the Chief of Police, he also served all of his fellow officers in the state as the president of the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police.

Problems of Growth

Just as it does today, growth brought its own problems during Buttrey’s tenure as Chief of Police.

“His three top challenges were traffic, managed growth of the department, and getting better scores at golf,” said Watson with a smile. “When Howard started the department, there were approximately 3300 people in the city, and by the time he left there were over 30,000.”

When the department began, the biggest challenges were traffic, and how to cover the large area that Brentwood covered with a small number of officers. Today, the challenges are almost the same, with traffic being number one.

“We also have increased crime due to the growth [in population], said Watson, with a lot of bleed over from Nashville. There are more crimes of opportunity, [like] car burglaries.”

As the department grew, there was a need for larger and larger headquarters. In 1976, the headquarters moved to a small building located at the end of Harpeth Drive. Continued growth caused the department to move again in 1979, this time to Wilson Pike Circle.

Today, Brentwood Police operate out of City Hall located in Maryland Farms. However, a new headquarters is to be built off Concord Road near the Brentwood Library.

According to Watson, it is thanks to Buttrey that the department has grown into what it is today,

“When I took over there were approximately 58 sworn officers and 14 civilians (dispatchers/records/vehicle maintenance),” said Watson.

That was a bit of a change from the three officers he managed when the whole thing got started.

Brentwood Police Department currently employs 60 sworn officers and 20 civilian staff. According to an interview by Channel 5 with current Chief Jeff Hughes, the department is moving to Heritage Way to be close to access to the major thoroughfares, to enhance public safety, to provide enhanced training facilities for officers, and because they have just outgrown the space.

Buttrey’s Legacy

Brentwood has only had three Chiefs of Police, with Buttrey having the longest tenure from the beginnings in 1971 until 2000. He left a strong foundation upon which his predecessor have been able to build.

“I continue seeing [the department] as one of the premier departments in the nation,” said Watson. “They continue to be current in all of their training. I only see great things for this department. [And the] new police headquarters … will be state of the art.”

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