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Officer Kalin Holland with wife Courtney and son Titus. |
by Mark Collier and Robin Gee
Fort Thomas Police Chief Mike Daly introduced the department’s newest officer at the city council meeting June 5. Daly said Kalin Holland impressed him from the start with his professionalism and preparedness for the job.
Holland received two badges at the meeting, one is his
regular badge, number 4450, and the other was the last of the badges specially
designed for the city’s sesquicentennial celebration.
Fort Thomas Matters caught up with Holland after the badge
presentation and asked him a few questions about his new position.
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Fort Thomas Police Chief Daly instroduces new officer Kalin Holland |
Fort Thomas Matters: Tell us a little bit about your
background. Where are you from?
Kalin Holland: I grew up in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and
I’ve been a transplant to the Northern Kentucky area since 2011. It’s been fantastic. What brought me here was
a job at Northern Kentucky University working in their university housing
office, and I also was an academic advisor for the NKU Athletics Department.
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Call Ashley Barlow for your legal needs. 859-781-5777. |
I’ve always had a childhood dream of becoming an
officer. I thought it over and came to a fork in the road where I could
continue with higher education and move on with opportunities there or I could
jump in do something radical…a bit daring, I wanted to take the little bit
riskier route.
I talked it over with my wife, Courtney, and she was 100
percent behind me. Once that happened, it was a really easy decision. That’s
when the ball got rolling. I’m so glad that Fort Thomas came into the picture...This is a great agency and a great city to
work in.
Is this your first job as a police officer? Earning a
position at the Fort Thomas Police Department must be very competitive. What
was the hiring process like?
It is my first law enforcement job. I remember talking
to one of the other candidates and saying "There really nothing else we can
do…We've passed the tests, we've passed the psychological exams, the fitness
tests. We've gone through the background checks. At this point it's going happen or its not."
It is stressful… Law enforcement is something in which you
have to have the public trust, and it’s a responsibility to make sure that
people in these positions are level headed, obviously qualified, capable. You
want the people you can trust to do the best for the community and the city and
also make the right decisions at the right time — especially in stressful
situations. So, it’s purposefully and accurately challenging.
You made it through. How do you feel now that you are a
Fort Thomas officer?
To be the person selected, I’m absolutely floored! There
were times when I thought this is too good to be true. I thought, they’ll call me tomorrow
and say they made some kind of mistake…but now they’ve committed and I’ve
committed, which is awesome.
What have you discovered about Fort Thomas?
Great community for families, awesome schools, a lot of
rich history and tradition. The community is also very actively engaged, which
is great to see. I think people take a lot of pride in this city.
It’s a very desirable place to live with phenomenal houses
and architecture, awesome parks and with Cincinnati right there as our back
drop…people can take advantage of a small, charming town and then jump in
downtown Cincinnati and experience all that goes on there.
You are so tall, and you worked in
athletics at NKU. Were you an athlete in college?
Yes, I’m six feet six inches…I played basketball for
Western Kentucky University, where I also earned my bachelor’s and graduate
degrees.
When were you there? Did you play with anyone we might
recognize? What was your coolest experience playing basketball?
I played from 2001 to 2005. The person who had the best
career success was Courtney Lee. He plays with the New York Knicks, played for
the Grizzlies, played for Orlando. There was also Anthony Winchester, who was a
great player, and Elgrace Wilborn from Tennessee. Ty Rogers won an ESPY award
for hitting a shot against Drake 5 feet from the free point line in the 2008
NCAA tournament.
I’d have to say the coolest was beating UK at Rupp.
The experience brought me into contact with phenomenal
individuals, and we played all over the country.
What’s next for
you?
I start at the Academy June 11, and I’ll be back in
December. I can’t wait. I’m looking forward to getting to know members of the
community and developing strong relationships with leadership of the department
and my fellow officers.
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Kalin Holland poses with fellow officers. |
Welcome to Fort Thomas! I hope you like it here. :)
ReplyDeleteProud of you buddy! :)
ReplyDeleteGodly CONGRATULATIONS nephew!❤
ReplyDelete