Harker Heights Police Chief Sonja Clay

As part of an ongoing series on Women's History Month, Harker Heights Police Chief Sonja Clay, who is the first woman police chief in Harker Heights' history, sat down with KDH News to discuss the challenges and accomplishments of being a leader in law enforcement.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:13

Welcome to the Inside Clean podcast, powered by KDH News. My name is Kevin Limity, and this episode is sponsored by Ann Nails. Treat yourself. Enjoy$10 off gel nails with Ann Nails because you deserve it. Located at 4110 South Clear Creek Road in Kleene, Texas. And that's what I was saying. My name is Kevin Limity, and this month we're doing Women's History Month, which is part of like an ongoing segment for the month of March. And today I'm joined by Sonia Clay, who is the police chief of the Harker Heights Police Department. How are you doing?

SPEAKER_01 0:47

Good. Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_00 0:49

Of course. I'm also joined by Janna Lynn, who is our reporter here at KDHTS. How are you doing, Jana?

SPEAKER_03 0:54

Very good today. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 0:56

Awesome. Well, I guess I'll just get started by asking you where you're from and how you end up in this area.

SPEAKER_01 1:02

Oh my goodness. I think the way I ended up here is for most people who are not originally from Texas. So I'm originally from Germany. I was born outside of Stuttgart, which is the Black Forest area. But I grew up in West Berlin. So I was actually present when the Berlin Wall came down, which is historically speaking a very exciting time, especially because I do have family that lived on the other side of the wall in East Berlin. So that that was very moving to see them visiting us for the first time ever. As I got older, I guess, and I got introduced to a US soldier who was stationed in Germany. He decided that it was to everyone's benefit, I guess, to bring me to the U.S. to Ford Hood. And that's how we ended up here in Texas. But no, seriously, I love Texas. I love the people in Texas. And just like you, I decided to stay after meeting the community. I'm a huge fan. And here we are almost 30 years later. I'm still in Texas.

SPEAKER_03 2:05

Very good. Does that mean that you were a part of the police force for a long time too? I know that you've been there quite a while.

SPEAKER_01 2:13

So actually, I worked for the city of Temple at first for about six years, and I had uh various positions within the city departments, but not on the police side. In uh 20, no, I'm sorry, in 2003, I applied for the city of Temple to become a police officer because at the time the city of Temple was the only agency in this area that accepted uh green card holders. So I applied because at the time I was not a U.S. citizen yet. And when I applied and passed all the tests and I was ready to move to the next stage of the hiring process, I got approached by the lieutenant at the time for the Temple Police Department, and he asked me whether I was a U.S. citizen. And I told him I was not, and I didn't think it was necessary since their advertisement at the time did not request or did not ask or made it a requirement for you to be a U.S. citizen. So that's when he told me in April of 2003 that the commission on licensing for police officers is changing the rules, and now you had to be a U.S. citizen. So I had to make a decision on what am I gonna do? Am I gonna sit here and feel sorry for myself and say this is not fair for about a day or two? Or am I gonna go ahead and pick myself up and make a decision on which way I'm gonna go? Am I gonna continue to uh feel sorry for myself and just continue working for the city of Temple as a in in the clerical field? Or am I gonna go ahead and do what needs to be done and tackle it and become a U.S. citizen? And so three months later I became a U.S. citizen in June of 2003. And then then I decided because I was a Harker Heights resident at the time, so I commuted back and forth to Temple every day. Not only did I apply for the city of Temple once again because I was familiar and comfortable with the city of Temple, having worked for them for six years at the time, but then I also applied with the city of Harker Heights, which is my community, and Chief Gentry was faster. So here we are almost 23 years later. I'm still with the city of Harker Heights. I'm still a proud member of the community, and I'm happy to be able to serve my community.

SPEAKER_00 4:23

Yeah, uh, you mentioned that uh when you applied for the Harker Heights Police Department, you are living in Harker Heights. How important is it that you work with the communities that you live in for a police officer?

SPEAKER_01 4:39

It's not that I would not have done a good job for the city of Temple, but I think there's something to be said for somebody who lives in the city of Harker Heights because obviously you have a vested interest. You have an interest in your community, you have an interest to make sure that your community, that the safety is there, that the community is well served. And I think it's immensely important.

SPEAKER_00 5:01

Yeah, I think that can apply to pretty much any like position where you're in a sort of a position of community trust. I think it I think it benefits like an any field that you're in, educator or journalist.

SPEAKER_02 5:15

Very good.

SPEAKER_03 5:16

Very good. I'm interested to know way back then, almost 20 years, were there other, were there many women on the force at that time?

SPEAKER_01 5:26

There were a few, not as many as we have today. I believe that you might have heard from Chief Ellis, I'm a huge fan, by the way, about the initiative 30 by 30. We're actually already there. So I don't like to brag, but our ratio is we're sitting at about 35%, slightly over 35% female officers. But back then we didn't have the same ratio. We had less females, but very important, strong females nonetheless. And I look to them for mentorship. And uh I believe that I wouldn't be in my position that I am today, in part because of these females who came before me and just kind of even out the path for me to make it to this position.

SPEAKER_03 6:10

That's great. We need to make the path for the ones behind us. Correct. Correct.

SPEAKER_00 6:15

Are there any special considerations uh women have to make when applying for like a police officer position? I mean, I imagine that there's some stigma there.

SPEAKER_01 6:27

So I I've heard of that in in law enforcement in my profession, but I'm I'm gonna be honest with you, I cannot say that there is in Harker Heights. I've never felt throughout the years on coming up through the ranks. And obviously, I worked my way up from a police officer. I was on day shift, I was on night shift, I was in the community services division, I was a an investigator in the criminal investigations division, I was on patrol, I was in special operations. So I made sure that I'm well-rounded, that I was exposed to every opportunity within the police department because knowledge is what helps you to excel. And I I have to tell you, under the mentorship and leadership of Chief Gentry, I've never never felt like there was a stigma or I was treated differently than my male colleagues. Obviously, when you have new officers coming in, there is always that, well, let me let's check out the new guy, let's check out the newbie and make sure that he has a place within our organization and that he's earned his spot. But that applies to both males and females. And I've again I've never felt like I was treated any differently because of being because of my gender.

SPEAKER_03 7:43

That's good. So most recently, you were brought on uh as the first female chief of police in Harker Heights. Your predecessor had some very kind words to say, and I I think we talked at one point about how what he how he had structured the department was something you you were going to continue to do. Is that still the case? Yes, ma'am.

SPEAKER_01 8:10

So I still refer to him as Chief Hawkins. I know he has moved on to the the assistant city manager position, but he's still my chief. And we still work closely together because he's still also the director of public safety. And there's not a day that goes by that we don't communicate and we discuss the going-ons within the police department. And yes, I still have the same vision for the police department. Good.

SPEAKER_00 8:36

And can you tell us about any sort of challenges that you faced as a police officer that you kind of look back now on now and kind of like how did you get through like those tough moments?

SPEAKER_01 8:51

No, I'm gonna have to think of that. Um there leadership-wise, I had a few challenges because you you just kind of have to make a decision which way you're gonna take. And as a matter of fact, it's funny that you should mention that, Kevin, because just recently I had a conversation with one of my commanders about it. I got into a role into a leadership position as I promoted up where I had to make a decision whether I wanted to be liked or whether I wanted to do right. I don't know if you're familiar with with Chief Gentry's motto to do right, do it right now. And I came to a T intersection where it's like, okay, I I can be friends with the officers, but then I cannot ensure that we're providing the best services possible to our community, or I can say, no, this is not right, and we're going to do right by our community, and then risk potentially losing the admiration. And that might be a little extreme. It probably wasn't admiration, but the the respect of the officers because there are times when you have to hold individuals accountable. And that was a very difficult time for me because, you know, obviously everybody wants to be liked. I guess that's human nature.

SPEAKER_03 10:06

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 10:06

And I decided for myself that no, I'm gonna do right by my community and do right by my chief and uh the rank and file. And that was a difficult time for me. It gave me sleepless nights, to be honest with you. But I persevered and I made it through, and and uh I'm better for it, I think.

unknown 10:25

Very good.

SPEAKER_00 10:26

Yeah, I mean, I think some people would say that if you are liked by everybody, you're not necessarily doing your job.

SPEAKER_03 10:33

Yes, that would be yes, you're correct. Speaking of positions in the police department, are there first of all, can you tell me how many positions that are in the police department, including the leadership, and then tell me how many open positions that you still have?

SPEAKER_01 10:53

So we are slotted for 56 positions, 56 worried police officers and 13 civilians. That's our support staff. And I would like to point out that they too are just as important as our police officers. They might not be as visible, but very important to our successes. And currently we have four openings and we're advertising. So for anybody who's interested in joining the Harker Heights Police Department, come and join the cool kids. We're taking applications.

SPEAKER_03 11:23

Join this team now with a woman at the at the top and see where your community can take you.

SPEAKER_01 11:30

That's exactly right.

SPEAKER_00 11:32

Um, as in terms of like uh crime, like what is like the biggest issue in Harker Heights specifically, do you think?

SPEAKER_01 11:40

I don't think it's specific to Harker Heights. I think uh we have an uptake in financial crimes. As a matter of fact, I just a few hours ago we had this conversation that when we first started 20, 25 years ago, burglaries, home break-ins was the crime de jour. And I I don't know if the criminals have gotten smarter or they're worried about the gun owners within our community, and maybe it's just too hazardous for them to be breaking into homes, but we see an uptick in financial crimes, and uh it can become very frustrating because they target especially the older population, and that is very frustrating to us because we really want to help them and uh bless their heart. I mean, they're they're so trusting, and unfortunately, they fall victim oftentimes to these financial crimes, losing their livelihood, and that is especially frustrating to us because we're trying to help. And it it seems like there is not enough we can do for them except for, you know, uh maybe public service announcements and make them aware, but there's only so much you can do.

SPEAKER_00 12:49

Yeah, I mean a lot of those criminals I think live outside of the United States. So obviously that's a huge jurisdictional problem like when you're trying to enforce like these types of scams that tar target the elderly community.

SPEAKER_01 13:03

Aaron Powell So I can tell you when I was in the criminal investigation division, a lot of my financial fraud suspects, not necessarily outside the country, but they were also within the United States. But yes, you are right, they're outside of our jurisdiction. There I had a few cases where the suspects were in New York or in Georgia, in Arizona, so they're all over the place. And they're really, really smooth talkers and they're very good at what they're doing. And again, you have the elderly that seem to think that, yeah, nobody's gonna harm me. They're not certainly not me. I'm not gonna be the target. So, and they they just unfortunately agree to, I mean, you can't really agree because there you you can't consent to being, you know, a victim in in a financial crime, I would imagine, but it's it's it's very unfortunate, it's very sad to see.

SPEAKER_02 13:54

As you said, they're very good. They're very good at it. Smooth talkers for sure.

SPEAKER_00 13:59

What does it take for like the FBI or someone to get involved in a situation like that?

SPEAKER_01 14:06

That is a good question, Kevin, and I wish I had an answer. I don't know what the threshold is. From my own investigations, I can tell you that the criminals were smart enough to keep it under whatever that threshold is. They kept it smaller amounts and had just they just targeted more individuals.

SPEAKER_03 14:24

So you're saying as far as a dollar amount goes, that's what you're talking about as far as the threshold goes?

SPEAKER_01 14:32

I I'm assuming, I would imagine. Okay. Because obviously the FBI, they're very busy, and sure. While they have a whole lot more resources than Harker Heights Police Department, even the FBI is limited and they can only, you know, work so many cases. And that sounds like a good conversation for another time.

SPEAKER_00 14:51

It is interesting, you know, to think that that's one of the biggest issues in crime-wise in Harker Heights and elsewhere.

SPEAKER_03 14:59

I understand that you also work mutual aid cases with Killing, with local communities nearby. How does that relationship work when you're called to help out another department?

SPEAKER_01 15:15

So our relationship with our other law enforcement partners is excellent. Obviously, we have the same mission, the same goals. And I would like to tell you that our crime stops at the city limit signs, but that's that's not the case because we have a lot of suspects that cross over. So temple suspects end up in Harker Heights or Kaleen suspects through Harker Heights, through Nolanville, out in the county in Temple and whatnot. So we do engage with our partners quite a bit. We have regional CID meetings every month that gives the detectives an opportunity to exchange the information. We have a reporting system, a crime reporting system, our reporting system that is about to be shared with all agencies in the county that makes it easier to share information with our law enforcement partners and where we're going to be able to just tap you know the information into the computer and pull up the information without having to pick up the phone or send an email to one of our law enforcement partners. We also work very closely with our Ford Hood partners. They too join us at our regional CID meetings, and so the information sharing is excellent within within this within this community or in this region.

SPEAKER_03 16:32

Good. I'm glad to hear that. What advice do you have for another woman maybe coming up, someone who is interested in the field of law enforcement and uh not real sure where they want to begin the journey?

SPEAKER_01 16:49

Well, come and apply for a job in Harker Heights, obviously, since we have openings. I would recommend that they reach out to a recruiter. So we have recruiters, Sergeant Hill and Lieutenant Leach are our recruiters for the Harker Heights Police Department. If you're not sure, just come and talk to our recruiters, maybe get to know some of our officers. Of course, we have the Citizens Police Academy. Hopefully, we're going to have it this fall. We're planning on having it this fall. But some individuals, they're just not sure and they're a little apprehensive of whether they actually want to go out there toting guns and getting into fights with suspects, with criminals. Then I would recommend you can always start out as a telecommunicator. Work in the dispatch center, you know, get to get to know the officers, get to know the calls for service, and see if this is something that would interest you. I can tell you personally, I find this profession, this job to be very rewarding. Over the years, it has given me uh a lot of satisfaction knowing that I can be out there and help my community and help our victims because ultimately this this is what it's about. But I can I can understand that especially females could feel a little apprehensive because I mean, let's face it, that this profession, for the most part, is advertised. You know, you you see the SWAT guys and they're repelling off buildings, and you know, you see the canines and you see them running and and wrestling and whatnot. And then, of course, a lot of times females tend to be a little intimidated by that. Uh so we actually, as a whole, have to do better in our recruiting efforts and not just have our videos geared to the cool stuff, you know, the SWAT call-outs and whatnot, and flashbangs and all that fun stuff, but also show the kinder and gentle side because there is a need for our female officers to be in the field to connect with some of our victims.

SPEAKER_03 18:50

That's very good. That goes along with the question I was going to ask. Can you think of something that women bring to the force that might not necessarily be something that is comes natural to men or an advantage that women may have?

SPEAKER_01 19:06

You know, they say that uh females tend to be more articulate or tend to connect with, especially our female victims. And I mean, I don't want to take away from our male victims because we have them both. I mean, certainly the males don't like to talk about it as much, but we we have male victims just as much as we have female victims. And they say uh female officers tend to be able to connect with with these victims. But I gotta tell you, I've also had victims that prefer to talk to a male officer because they were concerned about being judged by the female, because, you know, society, social media, and whatnot, you know, you you're very quickly looked at, or, you know, and that's what they're used to, especially nowadays with social media, that well, I'm gonna be judged by this female, and I would really prefer to talk to a male officer. I I like to think of it as not a gender specific situation. I it's the individual. I can tell you that the Harker Heights Police Department, we pride ourselves of hiring character and train skills, and we're looking for good people. So I don't care whether you can jump over a six-foot fence or you need help with a step stool or whatever the case may be. But if you're a good person, then we're looking for you. We can train skills, we cannot train character. And so to us, it's not essential that you're one or the other. To us, it's just important that you're a good person.

SPEAKER_00 20:38

And uh veering towards a more lighthearted topic, what kind of stuff do you like to do for a fun outside of work?

SPEAKER_01 20:46

Oh gosh, here we go. So I like to mountain bike. Uh yes, I'm not any good at it. I'm not gonna lie. I crush all the time. Please don't tell my boss.

SPEAKER_03 20:58

Skills is teaching skills.

SPEAKER_01 21:00

I'm I'm telling you, girl. Uh yes, I like to mountain bike with my husband. We like to travel to Bentonville. They have uh some really nice flow trails and technical uh trails out there, but again, I'm not very good at it. I crush all the time, and so I invested my health savings account quite a bit.

SPEAKER_03 21:18

Knee pads and elbow pads.

SPEAKER_01 21:21

I I I have them and helmet and all of the above, but for whatever reason, I always manage to crash just right to where it's it is what it is, but I still enjoy it. It's a lot of fun, and it's yeah, it's it's it's a good stress reliever. Good.

SPEAKER_00 21:36

Yeah, no, that sounds great. I don't think I could ever do that. I think my dad did mountain biking for a little bit and he like crashed and like had to go to the hospital. So it kind of kind of turned me off from uh mountain biking for a while.

SPEAKER_01 21:47

Yeah, but you know what? It gives you that that you know excitement and the thrill, and especially when you're on a Dana Peak. Oh, yeah, Dana Peak. And then of course, you know, if there's a tree that gets in the way, that's a problem. That's definitely problematic, and you want Avoid that. But yes, I I do enjoy mountain biking. We love to travel. So we do a lot of traveling whenever possible. And that's still going back to Germany at least once a year to see family friends.

SPEAKER_03 22:12

I don't think she ever slows down. No, never really.

SPEAKER_00 22:14

Well, what's Germany like compared to like the US and Harker Heights?

SPEAKER_01 22:20

So, well, having grown having grown up in Berlin, obviously, I mean the the size of Berlin, the population, I believe, is actually bigger than Houston. So it's it's a very large city. It was different. I'm not gonna lie. When I first moved here in 1997, I looked around, it's like, oh my God, where are the traffic lights? Where's the traffic? So I was a little frustrated and definitely homesick. I got introduced to Jerry Springer while I was waiting. Oh my. Yes, yes. I uh when I was waiting on my social security card so I can go ahead and seek employment and of course my driver's license. But I I have to tell you, I fell in love with Texas. And every time I go back to Berlin, I can't wait to come back to Texas and come back home because this is home to me. But yeah, it's it's it's different. It's it's busier, crowded, ridiculously crowded, and it's just, you know, it is what it is. It's although Harker Heights is getting pretty uh pretty crowded. It is growing. That's what the numbers are saying. Yes. I think somebody was mentioning that we're growing at the same rate or slightly lower rate than Austin and per capita.

SPEAKER_03 23:31

I don't know how accurate that is, but as long as we never merge, that's fine. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 23:37

That's about all the questions I have.

SPEAKER_03 23:41

I think we ran her over the coals pretty well.

unknown 23:44

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 23:45

You handled things extremely well. I appreciate the information and the openness that you gave us. And you heard what she said. They have openings and they're looking for good people. Come on.

SPEAKER_00 23:57

All right. Well, I really appreciate you coming on. Thank you so much. That's uh Sonia Clay, the chief of the Hogar Heights Police Department. And thank you everybody for listening. This is the Inside Clean Podcast, powered by KDH News. This episode is sponsored by Ann Nails. Treat yourself, enjoy$10 off gel nails with Ann Nails because you deserve it. Located at 4110 South Clear Creek Road in Clean, Texas. And you can watch for more podcast episodes featuring prominent women in March as we celebrate Women's History Month. And you can also read us on kdhnews.com. My name is Kevin Limit again, and I'm joined by Janelyn Kilcreese, Amita Botray's producer. Thank you so much.