On March 12 during PRIDE Time in the Lecture Hall, officer JB Burkholder talked to Hays High students about his career.

Burkholder has been a police officer for 15 years and a detective for eight of those years. In his job, he has many duties, although he mainly investigates crimes.

“In Hays, Kansas, we have homicides; we have violent crimes, such as robberies,” Burkholder said. “We have a lot of misdemeanor crimes; we have a lot of crimes.”

Burkholder said that Hays is a great community and a great place to raise a family, but although Hays does not have the type of crime seen in larger cities, but it still has crime.

With Burkholder’s title as a detective, he is also a part of the Ellis County Drug Enforcement Unit.

“That puts us out on the street usually late at night, where we’re out there trying to get drugs off the streets,” Burkholder said. “We are out there figuring out who is bringing, selling and using drugs in our community.”

Burkholder said that he loves his job, and it is a calling he had in his life. He said that he enjoys it every day, whether there are tough days or good days.

23mtippy@usd489.com