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Hamilton police officer calls it a career after 39 years

Hamilton police’s Tom Kilgour calls it a career after 39 years in law enforcement

Capt. Joe Murray (left) congratulates Sgt. Tom Kilgour of the Hamilton police department on his retirement Friday, Jan. 29. Kilgour had served as the public information office supervisor and will be taking a job with Hamilton Schools coordinating security. Staff photo by Samantha Grier

Samantha Grier Capt. Joe Murray (left) congratulates Sgt. Tom Kilgour of the Hamilton police department on his retirement Friday, Jan. 29. Kilgour had served as the public information office supervisor and will be taking a job with Hamilton Schools coordinating security. Staff photo by Samantha Grier

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By Lauren Pack, Staff Writer Updated 7:59 AM Monday, February 1, 2010

HAMILTON — Sgt. Tom Kilgour’s office in the Hamilton police pubic affairs section is usually crammed full of reports, police mementos, and NASCAR car replicas, not to mention all the cop gear.

But Thursday morning, only brown boxes littered the floor.

After 39 years, Kilgour hung up his holster Friday, Jan. 29, retiring from the job he has worked since a teenager.

“Since I was 19, this is the only thing I have done,” Kilgour said. “It’s hard to leave.”

But he isn’t going far.

Kilgour will no longer be a police officer, but keeping people safe is part of his new job description. The 58-year-old Liberty Twp. resident is Hamilton schools’ new safety monitor.

“I have been a liaison between the department and schools for years,” Kilgour said, noting he has coordinated security at ballgames and special events since 1992.

“This seemed like a good fit,” he said, noting he feels strongly about “making sure when your kids come to school, they are safe.”

Security in schools was forever changed in 1999 with a massacre at Columbine High School in Colorado. Since that day, schools have developed incident plans, lock-down procedures and safety rules. Kilgour is the go-to guy for those plans in Hamilton.

Kilgour, who has served as a patrol officer, detective, vice and drug undercover officer and supervisor and public affairs supervisor since 1998, said he planned to retire next year, but when the school post opened up, he knew it was time for a change.

The father to four grown children said he plans to do some fishing and traveling in the summer months, now that he has a “teacher’s schedule.”

He looked around his office, at the two cell phones, a portable radio, holster full of gadgets and computer sitting on his otherwise empty desk.

“We only had radios in our cruisers when I joined,” Kilgour said. The police station was at Monument and High streets; the Front Street building where it is currently located was a Kroger store, he said.

That was Oct. 2, 1971, when Kilgour signed on as a cadet. He was promoted to patrol officer the next year.

He recalled the homicide cases he investigated, gang violence he helped stop and all the “great people” he met along the way.

“I have been blessed,” Kilgour said. “I have had a big city career in a small town.”

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