It’s an initiative to build trust between neighbors and police
The City of Henderson broke ground on a new home that will one day house a police officer in the heart of the East End.
Officials call it the H.E.R.O. home—Henderson Encouraging Resident Officers—and hope that it will be a tool that continues to improve relationships between neighborhood residents and the Henderson Police Department. The home will be located at 102 Letcher St., on the corner of Washington and Letcher streets.
The idea came from a public safety group during the initial year of the Inner City Improvement Program, which was 2023.
Officials at Monday’s groundbreaking said that initiatives like these in other cities have made those places safer.
“Those communities that have officers living in them are safer communities,” said Henderson County Attorney Steve Gold, who was a member of the 2023 ICIP group that pitched this idea.
Gold also said that it helps police departments with recruitment and retention. For one, it will allow an officer and his or her family to live rent- and utility-free for a period of time.
HPD Chief Billy Bolin said most likely it will be a two-year stint in the home for an officer.
He said HPD has hired an officer currently at the Kentucky Department of Criminal Justice Training’s basic training academy in Madisonville who has expressed interest in living at the H.E.R.O. home. But Bolin said HPD would let all officers know of the opportunity before a decision is made.
Henderson Mayor Brad Staton said he expects construction of the 1,400 square foot home will take six months to a year, and said he hopes within a year’s time, there’s an officer living there. The home will have three bedrooms and two bathrooms, he said. The cost of construction is $197,199.92 and the company that will build it is RCL Design, according to city documents.
Staton said the H.E.R.O. home will accomplish two things. In addition to building trust between the community and police, it will also allow the city to show its appreciation for the work HPD does.
Bolin said that police most often don’t solve crimes on their own, but instead need help from community members sharing information that leads to solving cases. Having an officer living in the neighborhood will help with that, too, especially when neighbors get to know and trust the officer, the chief said.
The chief also inserted a bit of humor in the Monday morning ceremony, saying it’s ironic that a home designated for a police officer will be located across the street from a donut shop—Golden Glaze is directly across the street.
