Scottsboro Police Department's Lt. Derek Porch honored for bravery and decades of dedicated service

Story By Katie Hightower

For many years, Lieutenant Derek Porch’s reputation was established as a respected member of the Scottsboro Police Department due his dedication to safety and his drive to help others. His coworkers often looked up to him and relied on his expertise from his experience with the department. In July, news that Porch sustained a gunshot wound while on duty stunned the entire community. Because of his longstanding commitment to the City of Scottsboro, Porch was recognized with Jackson County’s Honorary Award of Bravery and Sacrifice. 

Porch said he couldn’t pinpoint when or why he became interested in a law enforcement career. He said initially, he wanted to become a homicide detective and that his favorite television show, Law & Order, may have played a role in his decision. 

Porch attended Jacksonville State and earned a bachelor’s in criminal justice with a concentration in forensics and law-enforcement. He said he hated writing in English classes when he was in school but he used those skills in his job when he wrote police reports. 

“I found out I was good at it,” Porch said.

Captain Ryan Putman said Porch’s reports stood out from the rest. 

“Writing reports was his thing,” Putman said.

Putman was young when he met Porch and when Putman started to work in 2009, Porch was a sergeant.

 “Derek was a riot—hilarous—one of the funniest people I know. I know more stories about him than anyone who works here,” Putman said.

Putman enjoyed working with Porch and described him has a great guy who would help anyone in any way he could. 

“He was always good to work with. He had no problem getting in the trenches and was a hard worker,” Putman said. “He was either at work or at home—a family guy who would give the shirt off his back to anyone.”

Porch said his father, Joe Porch, was a huge influence on his life. His dad owned a pest control company and Porch did a lot of work with him. Porch said his dad’s tireless work ethic shaped his own. 

“I remember him working six days a week,” Porch said. 

Porch said his favorite part of law enforcement was being out in public and moving around while taking in the scenery. He also enjoyed how unpredictable his work was. 

“I like how the job changes every day. One day it’s not so busy and the next it’s call after call,” Porch said.

One aspect of his job that Porch found most interesting was collision cases. 

“I always found collisions to be fascinating. It’s like a puzzle and I’m trying to figure out what happened,” Porch said.

Porch studied collisions extensively and even taught collision classes at the Citizens Police Academy. Due to Porch’s experience with collision cases, Putman valued Porch’s input when looking over wrecks. 

“If I had a crash with a question, Derek is who I went to because he knew more about it than anyone I’ve known,” Putman said.

Since he worked so many collision cases, Porch valued traffic safety. 

“He has been an excellent public servant to Scottsboro for 30 years. People don’t like tickets but at the end of the day, there’s no telling how many people he helped as a traffic cop,” Putman said.

“Lieutenant Porch is certainly one of Scottsboro’s Finest and this is a tremendous recognition,” said Scottsboro’s Mayor Jim McCamy. “His actions in response to events on July 26, 2025, definitely exhibit bravery and sacrifice with his years of training and service directing his actions. Our community is incredibly proud to have officers like Lieutenant Porch who go above and beyond the call of duty to protect and serve. His courage represents the very best of Scottsboro.”

Porch said he was honored to receive the award but also hated being in the limelight. He said he would like to one day go back to work but he was afraid he won’t be able to because it depended on the function of his hand and he wouldn’t know that for a year. Porch underwent seven surgeries on his hand that was injured in the shooting. He said he appreciated his wife, Desiree, for her help during his recovery. Her experience as a nurse practitioner has been invaluable throughout the difficult time. 

Porch said if he was not able to return to his job with the police department, he would like to find a part-time job. He said he looked forward to being able to drive again and that he felt satisfaction by being out in public. 

When Porch was released from the hospital, the community gathered together in the streets to welcome him home. While Porch looked forward to being out in public again, Jackson County looked forward to welcoming him back.