The Fort Thomas council meeting Monday night was full of family and friends of two police officers there to receive promotions and new badges from Police Chief Casey Kilgore.
Both Kilgore and Mayor Eric Haas noted that there were several people in the department very qualified for the open positions.
“The people we are promoting tonight did extremely well in all different aspects of the promotional process,” Kilgore said. “There was some stiff competition. We have several great people who are qualified to get promoted, but at the end of the day, these two gentlemen both rose to the top.”
Brandon Laffin promoted to sergeant
First up was Sergeant Brandon Laffin, an officer with the department for nine years.
“Brandon has been heavily involved in our in-house training. He does defensive tactics, firearms training and also vehicle operations for us and does a great job with all of that,” Kilgore said. “He is a recipient of our Fort Thomas Police Lifesaving Award, and tonight he will be promoted from patrolman to sergeant. His new badge will be 4321.”
Laffin thanked the department as well as his family.
“I’m really excited to be here and really excited to get to continue to serve in this role and to see where it goes,” Laffin said.
Many of Laffin’s family members and friends were on hand to witness the badge pinning and congratulate him. He noted his mother, father, wife Joy and their children, his best friend, as well as his brother and his family, were in the audience. His brother Tyler did the honors of pinning on his badge.
Derek Faught promoted to lieutenant
Kilgore then introduced Lt. Derek Faught, an 11-year veteran of the Fort Thomas Police Department.
“Derek is very well-known as a well-rounded police officer,” Kilgore said. “He’s already been a detective. He’s already been a sergeant. He’s already been a training officer. He’s already served on the SWAT team.”
He has been instrumental in getting the new Fort Thomas Citizens Police Academy up and running, Kilgore said. He is also very active in the community and is a member of several groups including the local Lions Club.
“I just want to thank you guys for giving me the opportunity. I love working here,” Faught said. “This is a great place to work — we’ve got a great group of guys. Some of these guys are my best friends; we hang out on duty and off duty. So it’s a really cool family environment here at Fort Thomas. And we look forward to continue to keep making this the best police department.”
Faught also brought several supporters to witness him move to the rank of lieutenant. He introduced his parents, wife, Sarah, and their children, his sister and her family, including several nieces and nephews.
His father, Kendall Faught, pinned on his badge, number 4216.
“I just want to say we are truly blessed in Fort Thomas. We have an outstanding police force,” Haas said. “We’re always labeled as one of the safest cities anywhere…Thank you all so much for your service to the city. We appreciate it very much.”