Top cop Fred Fletcher sees the purpose of the city’s police department as securing the safety of Chattanoogans. This interest in safety is opposite the interest that citizens on patrol once had something different — in justice. By David Tulis / Noogaradio 1250 AM 101.1 FM The word cop is short for “citizen on patrol,” a term from the days when peacekeeping belonged to the people and not the state, from the time before professionalized military groups such as Chattanooga Police Department. Chattanooga got an early start in professional policing, its department having started in 1852. The idea of the … Continue reading Chattanooga police care about state security 1st, justice 2nd