Jim Leach began his law enforcement career in 1975, and he shares his insights as a Criminal Justice Consultant for Golden Media Group. Mr. Leach is a graduate of the Tennessee Government Executive Institute.
As we told you in the first article of this series, according to a story from WSMV in Nashville, published October 27, 2025, two former Tennessee state troopers, Ashley Smith and Adam Potts, allege the THP has exerted pressure and even instituted quotas in an attempt to force troopers to make DUI arrests.
Former trooper Smith offers the following story as an example of being forced to make an arrest.
She says on August 25, 2024, her sergeant radioed her about a stop he had just made because an oncoming vehicle failed to dim its headlights. Smith says it is called a chicken***t case to make a vehicle stop over what are considered minor infractions. She identifies the driver as Tobias Bolkcom.
Smith says that when she ran a nystagmus test to identify involuntary eye movements that may provide circumstantial evidence of drug or alcohol impairment in Mr. Bolkcom. In her opinion, he showed “zero” evidence of drug or alcohol impairment.
Her sergeant ran the eye movement test on Bolkcom, and he had a different perspective on the results. At one point during the test, according to Smith, the sergeant said to Smith, “There it is. You see it?” He was implying that he had seen evidence of impairment in Bolkcom’s involuntary eye movement.
Medical technicians were unable to draw blood from Bolkcom because the technician could not hit a vein. Bolkcom blew zero on the intoximeter, a breath test that searches for the presence of alcohol in the person’s system. Drugs don’t show up on the intoximeter.
Smith says Bolkcom admitted he had one drink that evening. Smith commented in the article that “just because you have one drink, doesn’t mean you’re impaired.”
Smith arrested Mr. Bolkcom for DUI. She now says she regrets making the arrest. She says that she was pressured by her sergeant, and was “basically forced to arrest this gentleman for DUI, and he wasn’t.”
In Smith’s arrest report, she wrote that Bolkcom “had a strong odor of an intoxicating substance.” The report went on to say that he “performed poorly on the second set of the walk and turn test I administered.”
The DUI case was ultimately dropped, according to Bolkcom.
WSMV found no record of the case at the Weakley County courthouse.
In reference to the THP8 DUI Map, which shows the number of DUI arrests for each county and each trooper in the 8th District, WSMV reporters asked Smith what message the map sent to troopers. She replied, “You’re not doing good enough because somebody else has beaten you with the DUIs. You need to do better.” Reporters followed up by asking, “Do you feel like this push to get DUIs is eventually having a negative outcome?” Smith replied, “Absolutely. There’s pressure to arrest DUIs.”
Smith and Potts went on to say that there was an incentive to make arrests when working overtime hours, specifically directed toward DUI enforcement. They observe that there is an advantage to arresting somebody, whether they are drunk or not, to make the overtime money. Potts is reported as saying this type of program creates pressure to find someone to arrest.
What is the status of the whistleblowers?
THP is attempting to decertify Smith as an officer. She is accused of helping a family member who is charged with DUI to escape prosecution. She is fighting that allegation.
Potts was fired for leaving the scene of a single-car accident involving his personal vehicle. He has pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the incident. He is quoted as saying, “I made a mistake.”
In our next article, we will begin to look at the credibility of these allegations. Do the alleged acts indicate a statewide conspiracy to violate the rights of innocent drivers, or are mistakes that may have been made in some arrests being used to tarnish the image of many honest, hard working officers.
We will follow the evidence and see where it leads.
