Photo: Left to right, Covington Police Chief Brian Valenti, new Police Department hires Tatum Abercrombie and Johnathon Stribling, and Mayor Joe Meyer.

New hires include transfer from law enforcement agency

COVINGTON, Ky. – Covington Police Department’s newest recruits are a five-year veteran of the Louisville Metro Police Department and the daughter of an Army veteran who is completing her degree in Criminal Justice from Northern Kentucky University.

Johnathon Stribling and Tatum Abercrombie were sworn in by Mayor Joe Meyer this morning and received their badges in a ceremony at City Hall.

After the swearing in, Meyer noted the importance of maintaining the positive relationship that Covington’s police officers have with Covington’s residents.

“We have a very positive and strong relationship between our police department and our various communities, and it’s a real asset for us,” Meyer told the new officers. “For most people in our city, the police department is the City government. People interact more often with our police than they do with any other department within the City. So, the nature of the relationship is really important to us.”

Abercrombie will begin her 20-week basic training at the police academy in Richmond. At the conclusion, she’ll return to Covington, where she will begin a field training program. She completes her bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from NKU in May, and said she’s looking forward to having a fulfilling career in law enforcement.

Stribling, in addition to his professional experience as a police officer with Louisville Metro, is a 16-year member of the Kentucky National Guard and had two deployments in Afghanistan.

He said that when his colleagues in Louisville learned he and his wife were relocating to Northern Kentucky for her work, they encouraged him to join the Covington Police Department.

“They told me if I wanted to do police work, I needed to come to Covington,” Stribling said.

Stribling will immediately begin his field training with Covington Police. His police experience in an urban area is an “asset” to the department, said Covington Police Chief Brian Valenti.

“Anytime we can get an experienced officer from another agency, especially a larger agency that’s used to doing similar type of policing that we do here -- we’re an urban environment we do an urban type of policing here – it’s a great asset to the department,” said Valenti. “His experience will be vital for us.” 

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