Mt. Juliet police officers have apprehended 549 wanted individuals inside city limits since Jan. 1, with 87% coming from outside the city.
The Mt. Juliet Police Department posted the year-to-date figures on X on Monday, Oct. 12. The department reported 14 apprehensions during the most recent week alone, 12 of whom were not Mt. Juliet residents.
The numbers reflect a steady climb. Through the first six months of 2026, officers had apprehended 342 wanted individuals, with 88% being non-residents, according to a Sept. 15 department release. That means roughly 207 more apprehensions have come in the months since.
The department credits proactive traffic enforcement and technology, including its Guardian Shield license plate reader network, for the results. Readers positioned at city entry points, including on Interstate 40 at Golden Bear Gateway and near Lebanon Road and Nonaville Road, alert officers when vehicles linked to wanted individuals enter the community, according to a Sept. 17 department release.
That system was at work on Thursday, Sept. 17, when a plate reader flagged a vehicle tied to a 44-year-old Murfreesboro man wanted in Rutherford County for alleged felony child abuse, domestic assault and two counts of harassment. A second reader near Lebanon Road confirmed the vehicle was still moving through the area before an off-duty officer spotted the man parked in the Watersedge neighborhood.
Days earlier, on Friday, Sept. 11, officers stopped a 44-year-old Chuckey man wanted in Greene County for an alleged probation violation tied to the sale of methamphetamine. He was found in possession of more than 70 grams of fentanyl, 40 grams of methamphetamine and 8 grams of crack cocaine, according to a department release.
"Mount Juliet is next to the highest-crime areas around, but once you come into our city limits, you're in one of the lowest crime rates around, … And we need to keep it that way," Police Chief Tyler Chandler told WSMV in May.
The apprehension figures come as the city reports its lowest overall crime rate in at least 25 years. Mt. Juliet recorded 40.30 offenses per 1,000 residents in 2025, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation's Crime in Tennessee report, even as the city's population has grown from about 14,800 in 2001 to more than 45,000, as reported by Wilson County Source.
The department also earned state law enforcement accreditation on Wednesday, Oct. 7, through the Tennessee Law Enforcement Accreditation Program, according to Wilson County Source. Officer Rob Ullrich coordinated the effort under the oversight of Capt. Jason Brockman.
The department posts weekly apprehension updates on its X account, @MtJulietPolice.
