Capitol Protection Unit

Visitors wishing to schedule a tour of the Tennessee State Capitol, the Tennessee State Museum, or the State Military Museum can visit: www.tnmuseum.org for details.

Capitol Protection Unit: The State Capitol Unit consists of specially trained and selected State Troopers charged with the external and internal security tasks for the Tennessee State Capitol, Legislative Plaza, Tennessee Supreme Court, and the War Memorial Building. These services are provided also for other state office buildings in the downtown Nashville area where approximately 18,000 state government employees work daily. Responsibilities include providing security for the members of the Tennessee General Assembly and their staffs, as well as visiting dignitaries, other state employees, and to citizens and tourists that may be visiting or conducting business on state property.

Other duties include investigating crashes, conducting criminal investigations of reported criminal activities, conducting physical checks of state owned or leased buildings, and providing continuous surveillance through the use of cameras located throughout the interior and exterior areas of the Capitol Complex.

The State Capitol Unit currently has a Hazardous Device Team that consists of two K-9 units that are used not only for sweeps during Legislative Sessions, but also for investigations of suspicious packages and letters and bomb threats. The State Capitol Unit has one Trooper that is a paramedic and can respond when necessary to emergency calls within the complex, and one Trooper who is an F.B.I. trained Crisis Negotiator.

Visitors arriving at the Capitol Complex will have to provide photo identification and will remove all metal objects from their pockets prior to walking through a magnetometer to be scanned prior to entry. There are no weapons allowed within the Capitol Complex which includes guns, knives and objects such as personal protection devices or pepper sprays. (TCA 39-17-1359)