(This article first appeared in the September print edition of the Hendersonian.)
Navigating the city streets in a Henderson police cruiser, Officer Luscius Lloyd recalls one of the greatest surprises of his life.
“I was in the 7th grade,” at Glenwood Leadership Academy in Evansville. “We had a pep rally at my school. They were getting (students) ready for a trip to Disney World, and they called my name! I’m not the biggest fan of surprises, but that right there. I couldn’t believe it.”
At 11-years-old, the Evansville resident—because of his good character and hard work in academics—was awarded a trip to Disney World through what would become the Cops Connecting with Kids program created by the Evansville Police Department. (The Henderson Police Department has since adopted it.) In addition to good behavior and effort with their grades, students are chosen from a populace in which money doesn’t stretch enough for family vacations.
“Coming from a perspective of growing up with not a lot of money, Disney World was always such a magical place,” Lloyd said. “It was almost the way I viewed college. Like that it is so far away, I’ll never get there. Disney World wasn’t really very realistic until it happened.”
The now 24-year-old said his parents worked hard to provide plenty of food, shelter and clothes for him and his six siblings.
“My parents made sure I always had the basics. I never went without regular meals, but we didn’t go on vacations. That wasn’t a thing. A vacation to me is we’d go to Louisville for a day,” he said.
Adding to the excitement of the trip, Lloyd, who still lives in Evansville, said he turned 12 the day the group arrived at Disney World. “I was 11 years-old when we traveled to Disney on the bus. When I woke up, we were at Disney, and it was my 12th birthday. They (the EPD officers and other mentors) sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to me. It was awesome.
“We hadn’t even got off the bus, and I kept thinking, ‘I can’t believe I’m here!’ Everyday I was so amazed. Disney World—I don’t even know how they do what they do, with the shows and everything. To this day, my goal when I have a family is to take trips to Disney World.”
Lloyd, who has served as a Henderson patrol officer for more than a year, said until the trip to Disney World, he didn’t have personal experience with police officers and only heard the opinions of his neighbors.
“There were things people would tell me about law enforcement,” he said. “The community I grew up in, on the south side of Evansville, the crime rate was high. I was around people who didn’t like law enforcement. But on the bus ride with the officers, what I loved about it, yes I looked up to them to protect me and as leaders, but they showed their human side. That was a really cool experience.”
Ironically, it was through Cops Connecting with Kids that he met his current police chief Billy Bolin, and his future police chief Evansville’s Phil Smith, the department to which Lloyd will be transferring later this year.
Of course, he didn’t know that at the time. In fact, the decision to become a police officer came years later while earning his college degree.
“I was studying electrical engineering at the University of Evansville,” he said. “Calculus II humbled me. So I switched my major to business administration. But I couldn’t find anything that seemed fulfulling. I enjoy helping people. I’ve been told I’m a leader. And I wanted to do something where I could be active. I thought about working in sales, but I couldn’t find anything that would be fulfilling in sales,” Lloyd said. “Then I came across an ad for police officers.”
Truthfully, he said, “I always wanted to be a police officer, but the community I grew up in, that wasn’t a cool thing. So I pushed it off saying it wasn’t what I wanted.
“Finally, it came down to no matter other people’s opinions, no matter what the pay, what is something I can do that I’d genuinely enjoy, and it doesn’t feel like a burden to go to work? That’s when I looked at being a cop. I graduated with a degree in business administration which no one can take away from me. So I decided if I don’t like being a police officer, then I’ll do something else. But now with me doing it for over a year now … I love it.”
Lloyd said he doesn’t live with his parents anymore, so he’s not sure how his former neighbors feel about him joining the police force. As for his family, he said they are supportive and seem to have a growing interest in his profession.
“I’ve always been who I am. Just because I’m a cop now doesn’t mean that I’m going to change who I am,” he said. “Everybody is going to have their opinions on law enforcement in general. What I have learned is not to take it personally. It’s the uniform. Their experiences with it is what (their opinion) is going to be.
“As for my parents … They’re pretty chill. I love my parents,” he said. “I can tell whenever I go visit them, they’ve been watching videos of bodycam footage. They like to see what I experience, and the stuff we deal with. They are interested. I tell them ‘this thing happened, and it was fun.’ They’re all ‘that was fun for you?’ They seem surprised that I’m actually enjoying this. Overall, they are happy that I’m happy. Ultimately, they just want me to be safe.
“My sisters are like ‘Wow! My little brother is a cop!’ I tell the stories and whatnot. And they’re always surprised at what we deal with on the daily. And one of my brothers will say, ‘You signed up for this? No one is forcing you to do this, right?’ And then he’ll say, ‘Why did you sign up for this?’”
The idea of being a police officer to actually becoming one is a process which starts in the academy, and continues every day under the tutelage of more experienced officers and the community they serve.
Lloyd said he remained cautiously optimistic about his new vocation through the time at the police academy and the months with the field training officer.
“I’m introverted, so talking to people was difficult for me,” he said. “I knew I’d be dealing with the public, so I wanted to see how I’d do. But I picked up on things quickly.”
Once over that particular hurdle, Lloyd said, “I learned that I do like the excitement behind the job. It’s fulfilling, and I like helping people.”
The first year in uniform has also taught him a lot about reacting to situations frequently faced by officers.
“For instance, we get dispatched to a vehicle accident. I remember (the first few times) it felt like everything was happening super fast. Turning on your lights and sirens, that adrenaline rush for the first time, it gets dumped onto you. Your brain starts to speed up, and you feel that!
“You get to the scene, and it’s chaos. People are crying, people are upset. The first few times it was a lot to process for me. But we still have a job to do. We have to find out if there are injuries; we have to get information; call tow trucks. We’ve got all those things to do, and it was a lot for me.”
“Now when I drive code (responding to an emergency situation), I’m pretty normal,” he said. “Things have slowed down. I know what to do, and the most efficient way to do it. You have more experienced officers who are there, and know how to handle an emergency scene, and they’re going to teach you how to do it.
“But (as a new officer) you have those ‘Oh crap!’ moments,” he said. “And mine occurred within the first couple of weeks. There was a big fight. And my body wanted to go in, but my brain was saying ‘Hey, this isn’t safe! I need to go away from here!’ I had to remember, ‘No this is what we do. We are here. We run to it. We go to these calls,’” Lloyd said. “Did I react the way I thought I was going to react? No! I thought I would be ready. (One of the sergeants) teases me about this. He saw (what was happening) in my brain. When you get that first experience in real time and in the flesh, you freeze and are like this isn’t normal for me. But now, (these situations) are normal for me.”
With a year under his belt, and so far loving the job, Lloyd said some experiences weigh heavier than others.
“The calls that bother me the most are domestic calls especially when children are in the home or present when the incident occurs,” he said. “I’ve seen some pretty bad domestic crimes. Any domestic incident where the victim is so scared of the suspect that they say nothing happened, but something clearly happened … Those bother me.”
On the flip side, Lloyd said he’s gotten to participate in the very program that sparked his interest in his current profession. Earlier in 2026, Lloyd was one of the law enforcement chaperones on a Cops Connecting with Kids trip to Disney World.
“It was a completely different experience,” he said. “They are children. And I don’t have any children. So I honestly thought I was going to go and have fun and be all relaxed and goofy, and make sure they were protected.”
That’s not at all what happened, he said. “It was more like being a parent. I’d have to ask them, did you shower? Did you eat your food? Does anyone need to use the restroom? Does everyone have their phones?”
Lloyd said if he ever goes again, he will be more prepared.
“I came back very tired, but it was a cool experience looking at it from the side of being an adult,” he said, adding that he now feels even more grateful for his parents.
Another facet of his job that he says is fulfilling comes in two distinctive areas—protecting and teaching.
“When someone has called 911 because they are afraid, and I’m able to do something about it, whether it’s removing someone from the home or taking someone to jail … If I can make someone feel safe, that’s fulfilling.”
Lloyd also said he enjoys teachable moments, especially with young people.
“When you have pulled over a young driver. They are freaking out. They think they are about to go to jail. But I’ll say, ‘No, I pulled you over because you didn’t have your lights on. You’re not going to jail for that.’
“Or they don’t know what their registration is or what insurance is. They’re trying to call their parents, and I tell them, ‘No, it’s OK. I’m going to walk you through this. I’ve got time,’” he said. “I will explain what the registration is. What the insurance card is. What’s important about the registration, and why I asked for it. I’ll explain the difference between a registration and the car title. Then I walk them through why I pulled them over. I let them know I pulled them over for a specific reason, not because I didn’t like their car.
“I enjoy teaching younger people … and helping them to understand what not to do again,” he said.
Later this year, Lloyd will leave the Henderson Police Department and go to work for the Evansville Police Department. Without hesitation, Lloyd said he believes he will see a drastic change from policing in Henderson to policing in Evansville.
“Evansville is a way bigger city. They’re dealing with a lot more,” he said. “But I look at it like I need to stay who I am (as a person), do my job, and understand not to take it personally. That people don’t hate you as a person, they just don’t like the uniform and what you represent.”
Lloyd hopes that providing positive interactions with people will help change some negative opinions about law enforcement.
“I treat everybody the same way. Even if you are a suspect in a crime, I treat you with respect. You are still a human being. Do I agree with what you did? Probably not. But I still treat you with respect. So yes, I think working in Evansville will be different, but I think I’ll adjust well. I’ve considered everything. I’ve weighed everything out, but I still think this is the right move.”
Getting his law enforcement foundation in Henderson, he said, is something he appreciates. “Henderson as a starting point was great. The department itself—we officers are super close. I love my squad. One of the things I worried about was how to connect with people. But with this being a smaller community, I’ve been able to connect with juveniles in a positive way. I know the workers at different stores. I always make sure to talk to them and have a conversation. If I was from Henderson, I’d stay here. It’s definitely amazing how you’re able to connect with the community and the officers in the department,” he said.
As far as advice for those considering law enforcement as a career, Lloyd said, “It’s not what you see on TV. You have to be able to talk to people, have patience and relate to others. There’s paperwork you don’t want to do. There are sacrifices—sacrifices of sleep, missing holidays and family events. lso, it’s really key to take care of yourself. It’s easy to slip by where you’re not properly taking care of yourself, and that can come back and hurt you when you’re on the job. It can influence your decision making on the job.
“If you’re easily offended, this job probably isn’t for you,” he said. “People are upset because you are there. People are going to call you names, cuss you out. They are going to do all those things to make you mad. If you have a short temper, then this job isn’t for you because we are held at a certain level of professionalism, and we can’t act out what we are thinking or say what we want to say because we hold a certain responsibility. So, if you’re easily offended or have a short temper, then this probably isn’t for you.”
“However, if you like to get after it, what I mean is you just like to catch the bad people, and make a difference for someone, then go after it,” Lloyd said. “Policing is one of the most fulfilling careers that you can have as far as helping your community.”
