Kristy Kelley, Nadeau/Tescier descendant, was honored by Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee with the Spring 2024 Governor’s Excellence in Service Awards.
Kelley is Supervisor 1 and Trackmaster for the Tennessee Law Enforcement Training Academy (TLETA), where she works on a daily basis with cadets going through a 12-week training program. She’s the lead driving instructor, but said she also specializes in domestic violence, child abuse, child sex abuse, sex crimes, mental health crisis intervention and sexual assault.
Kelley was nominated for the governor’s award by her director, William Kain, who selected her because of her work with a school resource officer program.
“I was so moved that he would even consider me for such an award. And then when I found out I received it, I just couldn’t hardly believe it,” she said.
Historically, TLETA had not included school resource officer training among its specialty areas. However, because of how difficult it was to find quality training for that specialty, especially training that departments don’t have to pay for, TLETA took on an initiative to develop it.
“These school resource officers are keeping our kids safe in school,” Kelley said. “It’s important that we invest in them.”
The first year TLETA offered the training was in 2023, starting with two to three days and then expanding to a week-long basic SRO school.
Kelley said the work was already meaningful, but to be recognized by the governor for it was an honor.
“It wasn’t just me,” she added. “There are a lot of people that helped make that all come together, and they all do it to help these officers, who are currently in those very important roles.”
Fulfilling a lifelong dream
Kelley said going into law enforcement had been a lifelong dream, but one that took some time to come to fruition.
“In the early ’90s, I had applied and had a negative experience where I was told by that agency that they weren’t going to hire any females,” she said. “So, I got a little discouraged.”
Though it took some time, 10 years later she saw an ad in the Murfreesboro newspaper and decided to give it another try. This time, she was hired by the Murfreesboro Police Department. Through the years, she worked as a field training officer, Special Victims detective, Special Investigations Division detective, and for the vice unit.
After more than 14 years with Murfreesboro PD, Kelley accepted a position at TLETA in November 2017.
Now that she works with cadets, she said her own background has allowed her to help others find their way.
Starting at the academy in January of 2004 after being hired at Murfreesboro PD, Kelley was in her 30s and one of the older cadets.
“I was at a crossroads. I had just gone through a really bad divorce, and I’d given up on my dreams before, but TLETA changed the trajectory of my life,” she said. “For the first time in my life, I really believed that I could do it.”
One of the requirements to pass the training is an obstacle course that must be completed within three minutes. Kelley was able to cut her time down from 4 minutes 30 seconds at the beginning of the program to 2 minutes 58 seconds at the end.
“Two seconds to spare,” she said. “To this day, it is the thing that I’m most proud of, because nobody did that for me. I did it. TLETA gave me that, and that’s why it means so much to me to be a part of it.”
Having been in their shoes before, Kelley said she likes to ask cadets to write down their reason for why they want to go through the program, and then to be able to use that “why” for when times get difficult and they need some extra motivation.
Her experiences in life and in her career have also helped her guide others.
Kelley talked about a difficult case she worked when a college student was murdered, and how she has carried that student’s story with her ever since.
“The blessing of all of that tragedy is that you cross paths with these people, and I will forever take a piece of her with me, and I’ll share her story with these cadets,” she said, adding that she tells those stories so cadets realize the importance of what they’re doing for victims and their families.
“It’s so much bigger than me,” she said. “Someday, and not too far from now, I’m not going to be around. But it’s the investment that people made in me, and the investment that I continue to make, because they’re going to be the ones making that difference in the next generation.”
Seeing cadets who have passed their POST Test (Police Officer Standards and Training) and graduate from the program is one of the most fulfilling parts of the job, Kelley said.
“I’m just so honored to be a part of that and to be a part of their journey. It’s an incredible blessing. It’s also a huge responsibility, because they’re our future,” she said.
Early lessons in middle Tennessee
Today, Kelley lives in Nashville with her red heeler Annie Oakley. However, she grew up in Bedford County, Tennessee, where she attended high school at Cascade and had “the best teachers ever.” She later earned a bachelor’s degree from Middle Tennessee State University.
She was active in 4-H and loved to show horses.
Her maternal grandparents, Dean and Dorothy Nadeau, taught her a love of nature and of animals, and her mother did rescue work with animals.
She said she is blessed to come from a wonderful family, where she is close to her sister, mother, and aunts, and that her family also helped instill values in her from a young age.
“My mother raised my sister and I, and she worked two and three jobs to make sure we had what we needed. So that work ethic is just ingrained in me,” Kelley said.
She added that her grandfather also taught her to have a good work ethic, and that he was an inspiration for her.
“My grandfather was my hero. He was a World War II veteran. And, while I wasn’t in the military, when I became a police officer, he was so proud of me. He would call me the ‘high sheriff’ every time I was around,” she said.
Kelley spoke about her gratitude to all the people who have helped make her successful in life, and said she often tells her cadets that there’s nothing special about her other than the people who have invested in her and helped her find her way — family members, teachers, and colleagues and mentors at Murfreesboro PD and TLETA.
Planning for the future
Looking to the future, Kelley hopes she can continue to make a difference as a civilian someday.
Her dream is to help domestic violence survivors, whether working with her Tribe or in a place like Montana.
“I would love to get connected where I can make a difference for people in those communities that may not have that voice,” she said. “That’s my after-law-enforcement dream.”
Aside from working with survivors in her career, Kelley herself has experienced domestic violence situations in her life, and she often shares her story with others to emphasize that it’s important not to be ashamed of those experiences.
“I tell those cadets, because a lot of them have had horrific experiences, that what you have survived makes you a warrior,” Kelley said. “In our culture, a warrior means a lot of things. And it’s powerful, and it’s empowering.”
She views her own trauma as a gift, because she can take her experiences into the communities that she serves and use her insight to help others break the cycle.
For now, Kelley has another five years to serve at TLETA, a place she loves and where she loves helping each new class of cadets find their way.
“I have been blessed to stand on the shoulders of giants,” she said. “And I’ll do my very best to make sure that I continue to give those cadets every ounce of knowledge that I have, because they’re the future.”