ERLANGER, Ky. — The first woman to serve as a police officer for the Erlanger Police Department has been promoted to lieutenant.
Lt. Kim Klare is the first woman to become a lieutenant in the police department’s history. When the department hired Klare in 2001, she was the first woman to serve as a police officer.
Klare, an Erlanger native, has almost two decades of experience with the department, Erlanger Police Chief Kyle Rader said.
"As a graduate of the Southern Police Institute, coupled with her experience and attention to detail, made for a perfect transition to the Administrative Lieutenant position,” Rader said in a statement.
Klare also worked for 13 years as a hostage negotiator with the department's SWAT team and also served as a detective, the department coordinator for the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) and a field training officer.
Klare graduated from Lloyd High School in 1997 and studied criminal justice at Northern Kentucky University. At NKU, she completed an internship with the Erlanger Police Department and decided she wanted to go into law enforcement.
"When I was young, I wanted to take bad guys off of the street, and after I completed my internship, it just clicked," Klare said. "As I grew in law enforcement, I saw an opportunity to make a difference by listening, reassuring people in crisis, and helping those who were struggling. Law enforcement has been rewarding. I have made lifelong friendships. I knew policing for me had to be in the City of Erlanger."
Klare was awarded the Cynthia Jean and George Nichols III National Scholarship in 2017 and she serves as the 2nd Vice President on the National Executive Board for the Southern Police Institute Alumni Association.
Klare will serve as the President of the National Executive Board and will host the Southern Police Institute National Conference in Northern Kentucky in 2023.
