Faces of Hall County: Kevin Holbrook

Meet Kevin Holbrook! Kevin is the a sergeant for the Gainesville Police Department and oversees community and public relations as the public information officer.
He comes from a long line of police officers in his family, he is a lifelong Hall County resident and is married to Abby. Kevin and Abby have 2-year-old twins; Braxton and Carson.
“I was born and raised here and had every intention on leaving for college but got on with the Gainesville Police Department and have been here ever since,” said Kevin, who has worked for the department for 15 years. “I went to West Hall and then Gainesville College and then went on to multiple other colleges for certifications.”
Kevin said he thoroughly enjoys working at GPD, an agency with 105 sworn officers, as the “face or voice of the agency.”
“In the world of social media, it’s a 24-7 job, we have to always readily available…the majority of our job is spent out in the community, working different events and programs whether it’s being proactive or reactive.”
We want to thank Mr. Holbrook for recently spending time with us and telling us more about his life and love of Hall County.
Question: What inspired you or led you to your current career?
Answer: “As far back as I can remember and as far back as my mother remembers I’ve always wanted to do law enforcement and always wanted to be a police officer, there’s been anything different. I come from a family of law enforcement, my grandfather and other family members, it’s one of those things that they were either in law enforcement or they were in trouble–and that’s usually how it goes for most of us. I was playing cops and robbers as a kid and it just never changed. My parents wanted me to do something different, I have a degree in business and criminal justice but it’s in my blood and it’s the path the Lord led me.”
Q: What is your favorite part of your job?
A: “The community relations aspect, especially in this line of work you can deal with a lot of negativity with what we call the 1% of the population, who don’t want to play by the rules and respect others. That takes a toll on you, emotionally and physically for doing that for so long. I like getting the chance to see people in a different light and getting to know everyone in Gainesville, it’s really a huge community with different demographics.”
Q: What has been on of the favorite things that you have done as the public information officer so far in your career?
A: “There are so many different things, I’ve been able to visit many places and go behind the scenes many different places from the U.S. Capital, White House, those were probably two of the top things; getting to work with the Secret Service and seeing the ins and outs, meeting dignitaries but there’s the kid in all of us and…the most notable would be meeting The Rock.”
Q: What is your favorite childhood memory?
A: “We grew up in a different time, everything was really just outside. I was always outside dirty, muddy and into something. Friday afternoons I would take off with my buddies and we would spend the afternoons and weekends on the lake camping and in the woods.”
Q: What is something that you would want the community to know about that GPD is currently working on?
A: “We are very community oriented and we are planning a number of events/series and one of the most notable things is a huge event in the fall when we will do a movie on the Greenway and get to know the community and the officers get to know them. We try to do all kinds of events to reach everyone and get everyone together.”
Q: What is the first movie you remember seeing in a theater?
A: “‘Independence Day’ is one of my favorites and we went saw it in the theater.”
Q: What is your favorite thing about Hall County?
A: “It’s still that small town feel and yet it is a metropolis and growing every day but yet you can still go out in the community where everyone is really involved.”
Q: What three words mean “Home” to you?
A: “Faith, Family, Love.”