{"id":33580,"date":"2022-07-08T18:26:25","date_gmt":"2022-07-08T18:26:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/?p=33580"},"modified":"2022-07-08T18:26:25","modified_gmt":"2022-07-08T18:26:25","slug":"heights-police-chief-to-retire-after-45-years-in-law-enforcement-local","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/2022\/07\/08\/heights-police-chief-to-retire-after-45-years-in-law-enforcement-local\/","title":{"rendered":"Heights police chief to retire after 45 years in law enforcement | Local"},"content":{"rendered":"

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After a total of 45 years experience as a law enforcement officer, Phillip M. Gadd is retiring next Friday, July 15, as the Harker Heights chief of police.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Gadd, 65, served as the deputy chief of police and chief of police for the city of Harker Heights from 2015 to 2022. He filled the vacancy left by Mike Gentry\u2019s retirement and served as police chief from 2019 to present, commanding 56 officers plus 15 professional support staff.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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When Gadd began his law enforcement career at age 19, he couldn\u2019t purchase rounds for his own service weapon.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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During the past 4\u00bd decades, Gadd served 14\u00bd years with the Killeen Police Department, more than 23 years with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with eight of those in Central Texas and the last 7\u00bd years with the City of Harker Heights as deputy chief and chief of police.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Gadd said, \u201cThe high point of my career was working with so many hard working and dedicated officers. What these men and women accomplished was incredible. They were tenacious and didn\u2019t want to give up until crimes were solved.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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You saw them out in public because they weren\u2019t just police officers they were your neighbor, friend and family.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Gadd\u2019s career started at KPD in 1977. By 1989, he rose to the rank of captain of the Criminal Investigations and Patrol divisions as a firearms instructor, police academy instructor, polygraph examiner, internal affairs commander, and patrol watch commander.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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He attained the position of captain at the age of 32 and during that time earned his bachelor\u2019s and master\u2019s degrees in Criminal Justice\/Police Science and Police Administration.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Subsequently, Gadd decided to become an FBI Special Agent.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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He started that part of his career in 1991 working in a three-person resident agency in Helena, Montana.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Gadd was the Montana Case Agent for UNABOMB and worked surveillance of Ted Kaczynski\u2019s cabin in the days leading up to his 1996 capture.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Once he completed his Helena tour, he transferred to the Oklahoma City Division where he became a SWAT sniper team leader and polygraph examiner.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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He was also deployed to Nairobi, Kenya, after the bombing of our embassies and traveled overseas extensively to assist in investigations.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Gadd was then promoted to Supervisory Special Agent and transferred to Washington, D.C., where he was promoted to chief of the FBI polygraph program to manage a $15 million budget, 120 FBI agent polygraph examiners at FBI headquarters and 56 FBI field offices.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Gadd told the Herald during an interview in May, \u201cIn my FBI training, there were specifics I learned about being an agent, federal laws versus state laws and even digging into the United States Code of Military Justice. This became a great resource when it came time to be a neighbor to Fort Hood.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In July 2006, Gadd came back home to Texas and became the Austin Resident Agency Supervisory Special Agent for its violent crime\/major offenders program, where he supervised 35 special agents and task force officers covering 27 Central Texas counties.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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During that time, Gadd commanded the large-scale takedowns of the Texas Mexican Mafia, La Familia and Texas Syndicate as well as the successfully foiled terrorism Abdo plot and counterterrorism investigation out of Killeen.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Gadd was also the deputy on-scene commander following the 2009 Hasan and 2014 Lopez shootings at Fort Hood plus the 2010 attack on the IRS building in Austin.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Gadd further served his community by establishing joint FBI\/private industry crime-reduction tactics and facilitating the launch of www.bandittracker.com<\/a>, a website that solicited community input for locating and arresting bank robbers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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During its first year, this innovation resulted in an 82 percent bank robbery solution rate as compared to the 44 percent national average.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In 2015, the Harker Heights City Council approved Gadd as the deputy chief of police then in 2018 promoted him to chief of police for the Harker Heights Police Department (HHPD).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In an unprecedented move, Gadd introduced the use of grants to augment the department\u2019s budget. His work resulted in the receipt of 17 grants totaling more than $270,000.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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With four of the grants, he enhanced the safety and investigative capability of HHPD by equipping each officer with rifle resistant body armor, which will provide extra protection from high-caliber weapons, body worn cameras and Tasers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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He also obtained a Throw Bot, which is a recon scout micro-robot that further enhances officer safety in visually occluded environments.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Gadd also used his skills to directly impact the community by attaining a rapid intervention response grant to assist victims of crime with shelter, counseling and crisis intervention through the Healthy Homes Program, begun by former Police Chief Mike Gentry.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Gadd and his team secured multiple Walmart and Target grants to build HHPD\u2019s Community Services Division outreach programs, such as the Kiddo Card Program, which is child-identifying information used in Amber Alerts. His leadership also supported Neighborhood Watch Groups, Blue Santa, Citizen\u2019s Police Academy and National Night Out.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Gadd is also well known for his routine of giving presentations and meeting with local churches, civic leaders and business owners to establish and build rapport with the community.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Gadd\u2019s \u201cCoffee with a Cop\u201d program has ensured that any citizen can personally meet with him and other officers at a designated local restaurant to informally discuss their concerns.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In response to Gadd\u2019s service and self-sacrifice over the span of his career, the 100 Club of Central Texas in 2019 selected him as its \u201cLifetime Achievement Award\u201d recipient. In 2020, he was named a \u201cDistinguished Alumni\u201d by the Killeen Independent School District. He was a Killeen High School graduate.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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When asked by the Herald about the challenges of being a police officer and how that\u2019s changed during his career, Gadd said, \u201cA lot of changes have been in technology. It\u2019s incredible what custodians of the law and technicians can accomplish when it comes to evidence.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cBy using cell phones, we can find a person\u2019s location, use DNA to eliminate and find suspects, and use radios that give us the capability to communicate with any law enforcement agency in the U.S.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cOn the other hand, it\u2019s been detrimental that families are not a unit anymore. It takes a village to raise a child and it seems to me that village has become deserted.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s nice to see people rally around the way they do but you don\u2019t see that across this country. In the recent past, you could drive down the street and wave at or even stop and visit with people, but now folks don\u2019t even know their next-door neighbors.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cAs police officers we try to get out in the public and let them know we\u2019re available to help in times of trouble and are more than willing to talk with them. We want to hear what they need, what they\u2019re thinking and what they want.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Gadd said, \u201cPolice officers nationwide have had to overcome some of the recent especially loud and vocal movements. Our officers are good but they\u2019re human and sometimes make mistakes. To see officers involved in this is not in the best interest of anyone. It hurts a community and it\u2019s law-abiding citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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On a personal note, \u201cGadd said, \u201cI don\u2019t think I would be a police officer and the person that I am had it not been for my upbringing. My parents instilled in me right from wrong and the importance of helping others.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cMy wife, Lynne, who also worked for the FBI, assisted me in many operations and decisions we made together about our futures. She is now a recently retired FBI lieutenant commander from the Navy JAG Corps and served for more than 22 years as an internal affairs attorney with the FBI. She\u2019s been a great person by helping guide me in some of my decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Gadds\u2019 daughter, Melissa, has blessed them with two grandsons, Miles and Mattox.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cMelissa and our son-in-law, Mike, live in the area and after I retire we will spend a substantial amount of time spoiling our grandsons then giving them back to their parents.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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According to Gadd, he and Lynne have put off spending time with family and friends due to the nature of their work.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s our intent now to travel and devote as much time to them as possible,\u201d said Gadd.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Gadd will be honored at a retirement celebration on Friday, July 15, at 2 p.m., at the Saint Paul Chong Hasang Parish Center, 1001 FM 2410.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n