Press Release - Fort Wright Police Detective Position

Posted on July 03, 2024

Fort Wright, KY (July 3, 2024) - The City of Fort Wright is pleased to announce the creation of a new Police Detective position within the Fort Wright Police Department. It is our intention to fill the position internally via a selection process that allows for the promotion of one of our existing skilled and experienced Police Officers. Currently, we are in the process of identifying the best internal candidate for the position. For our residents and business community specifically this means you will have direct access to enhanced and improved police services.

Mayor Hatter and the Fort Wright City Council unanimously, in collaboration with newly appointed Police Chief Jonathan Colwell and City Administrator Jill Bailey, determined that the addition of a Police Detective position was essential to the facilitation of day-to-day operations of the Police Department and would provide for direct and more efficient investigations and response to our residents, businesses, and visitors about any criminal activity that may have negatively impacted them. The provision of professional, experienced, and resourceful services to our citizenry remains a top priority for our organization. The assignment of this position internally to one of our existing talented staff members also provides for our staff to have the opportunity to grow and develop their investigative skills in a more defined manner. Having the ability to provide professional development opportunities outside of police patrol positively impacts our ability to continue to recruit and retain the highest quality of individuals to our team. This multi-faceted team member will also continue to provide you with standard patrol services when not investigating criminal cases. 

Police patrol and community engagement is the backbone of any police department, but criminal investigations are also a vital support service to our agency. There are numerous issues that every Police Department must deal with on a daily basis that requires dedicated resources in order to have a realistic opportunity of identifying and assisting in holding criminal offenders accountable for their actions. Overall, the addition of a Police Detective will significantly improve the operations of the Fort Wright Police department and, in turn, improve the overall quality of the services we provide.

The Fort Wright Police Department’s internal structure will now consist of the Chief of Police, a Police Captain, two (2) Police Sergeants, a Police Detective/Patrol Officer, and eight (8) Patrol Officers who remain dedicated to serving the needs of the City of Fort Wright.

Anyone with questions regarding the information contained in this release should contact Chief of Police Jonathan Colwell or City Administrator Jill Bailey at 859.331.1700. Thank you.