Police work has been in Kristi Bennett's blood for as long as she can remember. Growing up in Jessieville, Arkansas, just north of Hot Springs, Kristi had an uncle who retired to Arkansas after a career with the Chicago Police Department. "His name was Arthur Paholke and he was part of a team that helped invent the tool mark division of forensics in the '70s," Kristi said. If you are wondering what tool mark forensics is, it is the science used to identify abrasions, scratches, impressions or marks at a crime scene to identify the tools that made them and then link those tools to a suspect. This was a very big development.
Paholke became chief comparative tool mark examiner and after retiring to Hot Springs, was an instructor with the Arkansas Crime Laboratory.
"He was a huge influence in my life," she said.
Kristi is now influencing the next generation by being named the first female police chief in Texarkana, Arkansas.
She was appointed police chief at the end of March after serving as interim chief since September 2020.
"I've been overwhelmed with support and love during this transition," Kristi said. "TAPD is going to do amazing things and I'm honored to be a part of this city."
Kristi joined the department in 2005 and became its public information officer in 2008. During that time she earned the rank of sergeant and also earned a master's degree from Southern Arkansas University.
Her passion for working with children started because she realized the importance of her own support system growing up.
"I struggled in school but I had my parents' support," Kristi said. "Without the support system I had, I would have failed. It's why I help kids who also may have struggles at home."
One of those efforts was the PRIDE (Personal Responsibility in Daily Effort) program for at-risk students in Texarkana, Arkansas. In 2016, she was honored for her efforts by the National Association of Police Organizations in Washington D.C.
But we're getting ahead of ourselves.
After high school graduation, Kristi enrolled at Henderson State University in Arkadelphia and majored in music.
"I had a full vocal scholarship and sang in the choir at Henderson," she said. "But I knew I did not want to be a music teacher."
She decided to follow in her uncle's footsteps and become a police officer.
She switched her major to psychology and sociology and started gaining internships in juvenile courts.
As graduation approached, Kristi already had her eye on one particular Arkansas police department - the Texarkana Arkansas Police Department.
"I knew TAPD had the reputation as the finest department in the state. And that's where I wanted to be," she said.
Uncle Arthur had other ideas, though.
"He wanted me to go to Chicago," she said.
But after he did some investigating of Texarkana and TAPD, he realized it would be a good fit for his niece. TAPD got his approval.
There were not any openings at TAPD when Kristi graduated from Henderson in May 2004.
"They put me on the list and told me it could be a long process," she said. So she applied to the Miller County Sheriff's Office and that agency put her through the police academy.
She worked for MCSO for eight months and still has great affection for former Sheriff H.L. Phillips.
Then Kristi learned a friend from college who was a TAPD officer was moving to California and his spot in the department was available. It seemed like fate, so she applied and got the job.
"I got the call and they gave me the opportunity. I was so excited and thankful and I still am," she said.
Her first day on the job, in January 2005, was her 22nd birthday.
She was a patrol officer on the night shift and loved it.
"I was young and single and could just really concentrate on my career," Kristi said. "I loved working nights. I've always been a night person and do some of my best thinking then. I don't need much sleep."
There were five women on the TAPD force when Kristi joined. Now there are about 10.
In 2008, she was moved to the department's services division and began serving as the department's public information officer. She was also promoted to sergeant during that time.
In September 2020, she was asked to fill in as interim chief when Chief Robert Harrison announced his retirement.
Kristi said she had never planned to be chief but the transition "has been exceptional."
"It's not been a traditional path but I've been overwhelmed with the support of the agency and the community and I look forward to moving forward. I hold my city close to my heart and I would not have been able to do this without a department that backed me."
Developing the PRIDE Academy has earned Kristi a number of accolades.
She worked on her master's degree through Southern Arkansas University and her thesis project was whether a youth outreach program could help decrease crime.
"It went from a project to fruition" she said.
TAPD has had a Pride Academy with students from College Hill Middle School every year since.
Kristi has kept tabs on the kids from the first few years of the program. Many of them have now graduated college and have gone into teaching, social work or other careers that serve the community.
Kristi plans to still be actively involved with future PRIDE Academies.
"We have some amazing officers who hold PRIDE very dear to their hearts and will keep doing it," she said. "I will absolutely, forever be a part of the PRIDE program."
Kristi works hard and has a lot of irons in the fire. She comes by it naturally and credits her mother as one of her biggest influences.
"I had a mom who set an example of working hard and doing the right thing no matter what. She still pushes me to do more and has been an incredible role model."
Kristi said her parents, David and Alice, were "floored" when she made police chief. She also has a brother named Christian.
Kristi's other biggest fans are her husband Joe Bennett and her 10-year-old son Colin.
"I always appreciate Joe's continuous guidance and calm personality," Kristi said.
The couple met while he was also working for TAPD. He is now director of Miller County Office of Emergency Management. He pinned Kristi's Chief of Police badge on her uniform during a recent ceremony.
In addition to Colin, Kristi has three adult "bonus" children with Joe. They are Loren, Austin and Joseph. Austin is married to Rachel and Joseph is married to Lily.
"We share a large family and together we are an unstoppable force," Kristi said.
When not working, the family enjoys fishing in their backyard pond and visiting Lake Greeson and Lake Ouachita.
Her advice for any young woman starting in police work, or anything else, is to always want to do better.
"My goal every day is to make someone's day a little better. It doesn't have to be something big. I just try to be understanding of people and their situations and needs. Just always strive to be better." n