THEY SAVED TAILRACE FISHING

The Perfect Plan

EDITOR'S NOTE: Sergeant Karyn Carter works with the TVA Police Department in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, as the first-line supervisor for the Muscle Shoals sector of the western district of the Tennessee River.

QUESTION: Karyn, what happened when Gary Malden of TVA returned to Knoxville, Tennessee? He'd met with interested fishermen who wanted to patrol the dams and act as an arm of TVA's law enforcement. What did the police division for TVA think about this bunch of yahoos who wanted to watch the dams?
CARTER: We really thought it was a great idea. We wanted the anglers to be able to fish the tailrace sections, but we hadn't come up with a way to allow that. We agreed that the anglers could be the eyes and ears for the TVA. They not only could look out for terrorist activities, but they could watch for general mischief.

QUESTION: So the professional law-enforcement people for TVA got on the bandwagon for this Lake Watch Program quickly?
CARTER: Yes.

QUESTION: Did you talk with some of the fishermen?
CARTER: I attended a meeting with the anglers. The TVA Police teamed-up with them. We started knocking around ideas of how to best use this group. We thought of how we could use this group to better the area. Then, after we arrived at a focus, we got Johnny Burch, Bob Freeman and Ray Gresham together to hear what they had to say. We all met together in November.

QUESTION: What took place at that meeting?
CARTER: We shared ideas. We actually had one guy up on a board writing down ideas of what we thought the Lake Watch Program should involve. I also brought some drafts of neighborhood-watch programs to share with them. We did a lot of brainstorming.

QUESTION: How did you feel after that meeting?
CARTER: I thought the guys who attended were serious. My biggest question was, "Will this last?" But, the more I talked to them, the more I knew the program would work and last. They were and still are really concerned, not just with, "Can we fish," but also with the lakes and the area.

QUESTION: After you brainstormed for ideas, what step did you take next?
CARTER: We met again a couple of weeks after the brainstorming session. TVA was willing to give the program a try.

QUESTION: How was the program to work? Did y'all plan to only open that one tailrace area?
CARTER: No. TVA opened all of them.

QUESTION: But none of the rest of them had this Lake Watch Program, right?
CARTER: No.

To learn more about the Lake Watch Program, call (800) 839-0003, or write TVA Police, P.O. Box 1010, SB 1K-M, Muscle Shoals, AL 35662.

TOMORROW: IMPLEMENTING THE LAKE WATCH PROGRAM