Super Mom. Super wife. Super daughter. Super cop. Super juggler (more about that later). That pretty much sums up Knoxville Police Capt. Tracy Hunter’s life, a pro’s pro with two families – at home and at the Knoxville Police Department (KPD).
Tracy Hunter
There was quite the celebration on Mother’s Day, May 14, 2023, at their Mascot home in East Knox County. Happy Mother’s Day from their two teenagers. Happy Mother’s Day for her mother and Happy Mother’s Day for her mother-in-law. They were all there.
On another celebratory note, Tracy and her husband, Ray, were married on May 14, 2006. That was 17 years ago. Mother’s Day and wedding anniversary on the same day. This is the epitome of a first-responder emergency services marriage – Tracy is the only female captain of KPD’s six captains and Ray is his 13th year as a senior firefighter at the Knoxville Fire Department (KFD) Station 15 in Fountain City.
Originally from Long Island, New York, she’s 49 now and in her 24th year with the KPD. She spent her first 17 years in the Patrol Division and was promoted to lieutenant in 2016. She’s touched about all the bases during her career. To wit:
- She is a certified fatal crash reconstructionist.
- Has been an FTO – field training officer.
- For six years she supervised the inspections unit that checks businesses for beer sales to minors and was a member of the city’s Beer Board. Her unit also provided oversight, background checks and the permitting of vehicles for hire in town (taxis, limousines, wreckers, etc.).
- Firearms instructor.
- For four years she supervised the Forensics Division.
- Served as executive officer for now retired field operations Deputy Chief Cindy Gass.
You want more? There’s more.
- Commander SID – Special Investigations Division – that: includes all property crimes; special crimes of domestic abuse and elder abuse, child abuse, sexual assaults, and Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC). KPD is the lead ICAC agency in the state and she is its task force commander over 60 ICAC agencies.
- Member of the incident management team involving any mass casualty event like tornadoes, wildfires and other disasters.
Someone noticed. Chief Paul Noel’s first day on the job was June 13, 2022. Seven months later he promoted Hunter to captain in January 2023. That puts her on the chief’s command staff. At her promotion ceremony, the chief said: “Tracy is a very thoughtful and experienced officer, and she brings a lot of value to our command staff as we keep working to move our organization forward.” In this profession, thoughtfulness and experience matter.
And why and how did this woman become a cop? The answer is one word – family.
Her father, John Knopf, is a former KPD patrol officer and firearms instructor who retired after 25 years. And for 17 years he was a volunteer reserve officer in Suffolk County, New York, before they all moved south to Knoxville in 1995. Her mother, Patricia, was a volunteer EMT (emergency medical technician) in New York. She also worked in the Knox County 911 Center for 23 years. Both of her parents are U.S. Navy veterans and met while serving and are now retired. They have been married for 51 years.
All she heard at home were many stories about their first responder work. “I listened to so many of their stories and it was easy to know that they loved it and put so much into it all and I was convinced this was going to be my career,” she explained. “It has a lot to do with how I was raised. We were put here to serve. Mom and Dad would do anything to help someone. That’s how we lived our lives.”
Motivation is not an issue for Capt. Hunter. While at KPD she has earned an undergraduate degree in criminal justice from Bethel University, graduating summa cum laude, and an MBA in finance from Washington State University. More family stuff here – her sister, Jennifer Holsclaw, just retired as a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy after 28-plus years. She was a pilot on the Seahawk Attack helicopters. She is a Bearden High School graduate and now lives in Maryville, Tennessee.
Now, about being a juggler. As you read, she juggles a big load at work. It’s busy at home as well. The Hunters’ children are Jacob, 15, and Katie, 14. Both will be students at Carter High come August and both are in the marching band. Jacob is also in the KFD’s Explorer program for teens. Jacob is in Boy Scout Troop 58 and Katie is in Troop 258, both in Strawberry Plains. Capt. Hunter is an assistant scoutmaster in her daughter’s troop. It’s a busy job. More juggling.
She loves it all and thrives on it. She also makes time for yoga twice a week to take care of herself. She relaxes working her lathe to make custom wooden and acrylic writing pens. “On our very first date we went to Cades Cove and I love going to the mountains to relax. I’m a voracious reader, and I love gardening and fishing, too.”
Hunter had doubts as she considered a career in law enforcement. “I wasn’t sure if I was capable of doing this job as a cop – the pressures, having to be assertive and the stresses. Not everybody can do this job. Not every woman can do it and not every man can do it, but I know I was put here to do it.”
And is she ever doing it!
Tom King has been the editor of newspapers in Texas and California and also worked in Tennessee and Georgia.