It’s a sad and grisly part of the job. And if they allow it, and not learn to cope and deal with it, it can haunt them. Every time they see it. Every time it crosses their mind. The “it” is a pronoun for a life lost – a fatality – that Cedric Elwood Roach is still learning to grapple with and carry on. And hopefully impact.

Only 20 days ago, Cedric Elwood Roach began his third year as a Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) trooper for Knoxville’s Dist. 1. Troopers “work” some of the worst

Cedric Roach

accidents anywhere on our high-speed and crowded I-75 and I-40 interstates — with the big rigs rolling through, along with the cars and smaller trucks, the thrill-seeking drivers who dart in and out of lanes of traffic, and all of them mixed in with the too-many daredevils on motorcycles.

“The hardest part of the job,” he says, “is definitely the fatalities. I make sure I spend time away from the job to get away from those. I’ve learned to compartmentalize them, to put things in perspective. It is still a work in progress for me, but life is a work in progress too. Seeing the fatalities can really work on you.”

Roach, 45, is a Knoxville native and in January 2027 he begins his 20th year in law enforcement – 12 years with the University of Tennessee Police Dept. (UTPD) and five years with the Vanderbilt University Police Dept. before joining THP two years ago in September 2024.

He’s a Fulton Falcon forever and after graduating high school he became a forever member of the U.S. Marine Corps in 2000, serving until 2006. He was a Combat Engineer with the 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance (LAR) Battalion’s Charlie and Echo Company. His job was one of the most dangerous during that war – walking the roads and locating the deadly roadside bombs to protect troops and vehicles. “Those types of bombs were very prominent then. We were in western Iraq and we found a lot of them and we lost some guys I knew to them too,” he says. “Tough job.”

When Lance Corporal Roach came home, he needed a job and found one. The UTPD was hiring. He began as a security guard in August 2006 but soon became a campus police officer. “I was one of the first explosive detection K9 handlers at UT because of my Marine background and I also was a sergeant serving in Community Relations as well as working special events at UT,” Roach says. “I helped plan the police department’s responsibilities at major and small events across the campus.”

He and wife Michelle, who is a Teaching Assistant at Knox County Schools, were high school sweethearts at Fulton. While working at UT they had started their family. Today their two sons are 23 and 21 and their daughter is 19.  All three are Fulton Falcons as well and spoke at their respective graduations and earned academic scholarships to UT. Their oldest has already graduated from UT and the other two are UT students. “We’re a UT and Fulton family and I’m a big Vols fan. Used to work security at football and basketball games and the other sports too,” Roach said. “I’m very proud of our kids.”

In May 2019 he left UT and joined the university police team at Vanderbilt and stayed there for five years. “It was a bigger department, and I knew people who worked there. The money was better and we were raising kids,” he says. The family remained in Knoxville and for stability purposes he drove I-40 back and forth during those years. “I had the trip down to 30-minute increments and that stopped me from being bored and shortened the drive for me,” he says.

At Vanderbilt he worked as a patrol officer on campus and his last 2 ½ years at Vanderbilt University Medical Center Medical Center. Roach was eventually promoted to sergeant. “I loved working at the hospital. It’s a Level 1 trauma center so I was in the ER a lot and learning how to handle different types of people – family members, staff and others. I learned a lot and saw a lot.”

He also found time to go back to school. In 2021, he graduated from Bethel University with a B.S. degree in Criminal Justice.

The tug to come home culminated in his return to Knoxville in September 2024 – but with no job. He came to love law enforcement and learned that THP was hiring. “Job quality was a big thing for me. I was drawn to the THP. The visual appearance and the professional way the troopers conduct themselves to me was a lot like the Marines. We all come together for the same goals and the teamwork and camaraderie are special. The THP standards we have is what sets us apart from other agencies.”

He applied, went through the vetting process and was hired, being accepted into the 11-week THP “lateral academy” for hires with prior law enforcement experience. Roach graduated in December 2024 and after five weeks of field training he was on patrol.

Sgt. Cameron Ogle is Roach’s immediate Troop D supervisor. He minces no words when asked about Roach. “He’s very dependable. He gets the job done the right way. He is a man who cares deeply about his family and it’s the same for his job. He has a lot of life experiences and training. He’s very laid back, goes with the flow and he’s eager to learn. Proud to have him.”

Troop D covers three counties — Anderson, Scott and Campbell, but he is based in Anderson County. He says when he’s on patrol he has four potential violations he focuses on – DUI’s (impaired drivers), speeding, not wearing a seatbelt, and the hands-free phone law. “These are the main causes of the accidents everywhere and the injuries and deaths.”

Back to the accidents with fatalities. Three of them are etched in his memory.

  • In 2025 a 17-year-old male was rear-ended on I-40 in Loudon County and his car was literally pushed underneath the back of a big rig. He was not wearing a seatbelt.
  • Two weeks before Christmas 2025 a woman and her teenage daughter were headed home one dark evening in Anderson County. The mother lost control, swerving to avoid a deer and crashed. She died at the scene. Her daughter survived. “This one really got to me. I had to console the daughter and get her statement about what happened. It was rough.” The woman was not wearing her seatbelt.
  • In 2025 he answered a call about a single-car accident on a rainy evening in Anderson County. A female driver lost control and ran off the road. Her car flipped. She was ejected and killed. No seatbelt.

“These fatalities and others I’ve worked – we’ve all worked them — make you stop and pause and think about the job and understand the reasons why we do this job,” Roach explained. “We’re trying to change the behaviors of people so they don’t die or kill someone else. It’s about simply staying safe and alive.”

Tom King is a weekly contributor to KnoxTNToday, where he writes the column Our Town Hero, honoring the service of our first responders. If you have someone you think we should consider featuring, please email Tom using the link with his name or text him at 865-659-3562.

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