Click Here: Rescue 911-Double Football Player - YouTube Jerry Anderson and Byron Motley Two Murfreesboro Heros!
BMM Golf Tournament This golf tournament is in the memory of Captain Byron Michael Motley of the Murfreesboro Police Department.  Captain Motley died tragically while saving the life of a young swimmer.  He died as courageously as he lived.
A Good Man & Law Enforcement Officer Dies Doing What He Did All His Life, Helping Someone.

Captain Byron Motley died on July 22, 2006 after rescuing a child from drowning.  He was not in uniform when the incident happened but, everyone who knew him believes he felt it was his responsibility to dive into the water to rescue the child. This was not the first time Byron found himself in a situation that required him to go into the water to rescue another person.  

Capt. Motley put his life on the line when he tried to rescue John Freeman from drowning at Walter Hill's recreational park in the 1960's, and in another incident in 1989, he tried to rescue pro football player Jerry Anderson who had just saved two children when he became trapped in Stones River. This was the way Capt. Byron Motley lived.  He was a good man that put others before himself.

Capt. Byron Motley was hired as a patrol officer in the Murfreesboro Police Department on January 12, 1978.  He was promoted to Sergeant Uniformed Division on July 1, 1984.  He was transferred as Sergeant of the Administrative Services Division on June 1, 1996. Capt. Motley was promoted to Lieutenant in Administrative Services Division on January 21, 2003.  He was recently promoted Captain in the Administrative Services Division on March 16, 2006. One time before the "Law Enforcement Officer Safety Act" was enacted into law, I held a special class for any police officer that wanted to obtain a Tennessee Handgun Permit.  The law was changed so the officers did not have to shoot but, they needed to take the classroom training.  It has now changed but, one of the requirements was that a written test be taken.  When I handed out the tests, it seemed like the whole room started to ask Byron what the answers were to various questions.  It was basically a gun safety test but, the only person who was asked questions was Byron Motley.  At the end of the course, I said to Byron that I was surprised so many officers asked him for answers.  He said that as the instructor I should have told everybody to stop asking him for the answers.  When I told Byron I thought that would have been a mistake since I was the only person in the classroom without a gun, he laughed.

Byron was a good man on and off the job.  He will be missed by his family, everyone at M.P.D., his church, and a lot of the citizens of Rutherford County.  I can visualize when Byron meets up with Saint Michael who might be carrying a big sword, Byron saying "Can you teach me how to use it."  We'll miss this good family man, police officer, and hero. 

Condolences can be sent to the Murfreesboro Police Department, Murfreesboro, TN 37129.