Fort Thomas Police Chief Casey Kilgore introduced two new police officers who were sworn in at the February city council meeting.
“Both have a calm, cool demeanor,” Kilgore said of the new officers. “Both have very impressive resumes. If you wrote an ideal resume for a police officer you could just put either of their names at the top.”
Both Timothy “TJ” French and Geoffrey Lucas hold bachelors degrees and have had additional training, and both have experience working with young people as school resource officers, Kilgore said.
Lucas comes to the department with 13 years as a police officer, most recently in the Highland Heights Police Department.
French spent nine years as a Campbell County police officer. Prior to that position he was an officer for the Virginia Beach Police Department for five years.
“A lot of people have been asking me if it was a good change,” French said. “Every time, I tell them that each day I’ve been here there is something I’ve liked more than the previous day.”
Lucas said he wanted to echo what French said.
“Thank you for the opportunity to be here in Fort Thomas,” Lucas said. “It’s a great community, great bunch of guys I work with.”
He said everyone has stepped in to show him around and help him settle into the community.
Both officers introduced their immediate and extended families. Many of their colleagues from the police department were also on hand to congratulate the new officers.
Kilgore addressed council, thanking them for helping him build his department and making it easy to attract and hire quality people.
“For those of us on council and the public safety committee,” council member Ben Pendery said, “I just have to say with the caliber of the men and women we interview for these positions and ultimately hire, we are so lucky to have these people on our streets protecting us and representing us.”
