Today we meet a Renaissance woman – Maleah Ruth Murray-Human.
She’s gotta be an interesting lady and she is. She’s only 30, a wife and mother of two young kids. She is in her 8th year as a Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) trooper, who also doubles as a public information officer (PIO) for District 1 under the leadership of Capt. Stacey Heatherly.
Maleah Murray-Human
When Murray-Human graduated from the rigors of the military-style THP Training Academy in 2016, she was the youngest trooper in Tennessee. She’s also a peer-to-peer critical incident debriefer, a position that takes a special person. “My job in peer-to-peer support is when an incident occurs, like a shooting or a death or something traumatic, I’m available to talk to the trooper and let them know that it is OK to have their feelings and I support them and help them get through it. “
Away from work, Murray-Human thrives on family. This week they’re cruising to Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao. She’s also been to the Grand Turks, St. Thomas, Cozumel and Belize. “But Disney is really our favorite place now for the kids,” she said. Her husband of seven years, Robert, is a stay-at-home Dad for Jamie, 6, and Elijah, 4, and he has a travel business he’s enjoyed running since 2022: The Human Experience Travel.
And now she’s into honeybees with a new hive at their Oliver Springs home.
Before joining the THP at age 22, she earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology (2015) and a master’s degree in public safety (2022) from Tennessee Tech in Cookeville, Tennessee.
Capt. Heatherly has these comments about this talented trooper: “When Maleah started with THP I was her lieutenant in that troop. I saw a young lady who just needed a little encouragement to be a strong and confident woman and boy has she done just that! Now as the district captain, I have selected her for many special roles that she has excelled in. I’m grateful to have Trooper Human with us.”
Murray-Human is an Oliver Springs native, who at 5-10 was a rough and tough post player on the Oliver Springs High School women’s basketball squad that led to a scholarship after graduating in 2011. She played at Christopher Newport College in Newport News, Virginia, for one season. “I really missed home and then went to Tennessee Tech,” she says. “No more basketball.”
She isn’t the only one in her family working in law enforcement. Brother Matthew Murray is an officer with the Oliver Springs Police Department.
A popular television show helped her select law enforcement as a career. “When I was a teenager, I was glued to the TV to watch Law & Order: Special Victims Unit on Tuesday nights and I still love it to this day and watch it,” she explained. Retired THP Major Cheryl Sanders and her husband, Steve, are family friends in Oliver Springs. Steve was a school resource officer and helped convince her to apply with the THP. “He told me about the options you have there, the skills you learn and the opportunities for promotions. And here I am and I’m loving every minute of it. “
She loves it that every day is different. She enjoys educating parents about the child safety seats for their children and young lives are saved. “Many of these young parents just don’t understand the importance of the car seats for their kids or how they work.”
Murray-Human enjoys community events and what she terms “community immersion” that allow her to explain to young people that the THP is a career option. “I’m always trying to engage with them and tell them about the THP and how it is a career path to consider taking and what it’s been like for me. The recruitment part of this job is very important.”
Her patrol area covers three counties – Roane, Morgan and Loudon – and the stretches of I-40 and I-75 in Roane and Loudon counties. “I know my way around on these roads and especially my home territory in Oliver Springs since it’s in both Morgan and Roane and most people know me. And in this job, you don’t let your buddies off either. As many say, in this job you have no buddies.”
Murray-Human recently switched to the midnight/overnight shift, 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., and she’s focused on alcohol or drug-impaired drivers. “The DUIs are pretty much equal between men and women and if I can find ’em, I stop them.”
Not that long ago she stopped a car she knew from her training had an impaired driver behind the wheel. It was a mother with three small children in the car. “When I walked up to the car the woman was a friend of mine from high school. I had to arrest her, and the kids were begging me not to take their mom,” she said. “I made arrangements for the father to come get the kids. I did not want her kids to see me put the handcuffs on her. Kids don’t forget stuff like that.”
Once the kids were gone, she did arrest her and put the handcuffs on. “I saw her about a year later and she said no hard feelings. She was clean and sober and had gotten her driver’s license back and she thanked me. That makes you feel good.”
This experience ties in with two major qualities a trooper must have, she says. “Your heart must really be in it, this job we do, and you have to have good communications skills with the public and with fellow troopers. And you have to understand that not everyone is a bad guy; that sometimes really good people just make a mistake.”
Tom King has been the editor of newspapers in Texas and California and also worked in Tennessee and Georgia. If you have someone you think we should consider featuring, please email him at the link with his name or text him at 865-659-3562.
