News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Tennessee Tech graduate Dale Grandstaff has been appointed as the colonel of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency’s boating and law enforcement division.
Grandstaff has been working for the TWRA since 1998. Grandstaff said with his new position he hopes to address the issue of impaired boaters on the Dale Hollow Lake and Center Hill Lake.
“It’s common I mean every body of water is going to have someone,” Grandstaff said. “Most of the time people go to the water to recreate. They want to go out with their family or friends and enjoy themselves and have a good time and we are not out there to keep them from having a good time, but we are going to be looking for impaired operators that’s the main thing we will look for.”
Grandstaff said so far in 2024 Tennessee has seen seventeen fatalities from boating accidents. Grandstaff said he plans to increase the amount of patrols on the lakes to try and achieve his goal of reducing fatalities.
“Our goal will be to have as many officers as possible on the water looking for impaired drivers and making sure that people are being safe while they are boating and not operating recklessly.
Grandstaff said he takes boating safety very seriously as he has made phone calls to family members letting them know their loved one has passed away from an accident.
“Most officers if they have worked for a while, they have had to deal with some type of a fatality or some type of death notification to family,” Grandstaff said. “If you have to do one of those you as an officer want to make the water safe so that you never have to do that. We would like to never have to do a death notification, it’s gonna happen but we want to reduce those as much as possible.”
Grandstaff said attending Tennessee Tech has shaped him to be who he is today.
“It means a lot to try and lead the agency in a good direction,” Grandstaff said. “And work with what I consider to be the best officers in the country.”
Grandstaff said he never thought he would be a colonel because all he wanted as a child was to be a game warden but he is looking forward to serving the state of Tennessee.
