‘Hayden had a love for people’: Glasgow chief remembers fallen trooper
On Tuesday, Glasgow Police Chief Guy Howie wanted people to remember Phillips for more than the badge he wore or the job he did. He wanted to remember the person behind it.
GLASGOW, Ky. — Before Hayden Phillips wore a Kentucky State Police uniform, he wore the uniform of a Glasgow police officer.
Phillips began his law enforcement career with the Glasgow Police Department, where he worked during two separate periods before joining Kentucky State Police.
On Tuesday, Glasgow Police Chief Guy Howie wanted people to remember Phillips for more than the badge he wore or the job he did. He wanted to remember the person behind it.
He remembered Phillips as straightforward, polite and quick to make people laugh.
“He was very straightforward, very nice and polite young man,” Howie said. “That never changed. He was always polite.”
Phillips was also a jokester, Howie said, and often found ways to make the people around him laugh. He would regularly stop by the department to show off his latest state police cruiser.
“He always had a new car for some reason,” Howie said.
During his time with Glasgow Police, Phillips built relationships with officers and deputies throughout the community, including those with the Barren County Sheriff’s Office.
“It takes a person with a great, great attitude, and a great personality,” Howie said.
Phillips had also told Howie about his plans to become a state trooper. Howie said he tried to talk him out of leaving Glasgow because he wanted to keep him at the department.
But Phillips was eager to move forward.
As an officer, Phillips took his work seriously and was eager to get the job done. Sometimes, Howie said, he was a little too eager.
“You had to ask him to slow down, and I think that’s what made him a good trooper,” Howie said.
Howie, who has spent more than 40 years in law enforcement, was sitting in Captain Justin Kirkpatrick’s office Monday when another officer told him something had happened.
“It was like unbelievable. You know the possibility is always there,” he said.
Officers spend their careers knowing there is a risk they may not come home, Howie said. But knowing that risk exists does not make the reality any easier to comprehend.
“You sit there stunned for a little bit,” Howie said.
For Howie, the loss is about more than the death of an officer.
“We’ve lost more than Hayden. There’s going to be three kids that grow up without their dad. They don’t know what they’re going to miss in Hayden,” Howie said.
Phillips would have been 29 on Wednesday.
Howie said he believes Phillips would have eventually found his way back to Glasgow Police. After all, he had already worked there twice.
Then Howie smiled with tears in his eyes.
“To be a first responder, you really have to have a love for people,” Howie said. “Hayden had a love for people.”
As Phillips’ body was brought home to Glasgow Tuesday, more than a mile of community members lined the route to pay their respects.
Brennan Crain
When asked what he wanted to say to Phillips’ family, Howie said he felt he did not need to make any remarks.
“I think she’s seen the love from the community, from the state police, and I think it’s going to help carry her on,” Howie said.
Howie said he also believes Phillips’ sons will have more support from the law enforcement community than they know what to do with.
He called the officers who knew their father their new “big brothers.”
