Texarkana police honors girl, 13, as honorary officer
TEXARKANA, Texas — Kaylee Nowlin achieved one of her lifetime goals on Tuesday when she was named an honorary member of the Texarkana, Texas, Police Department.
Kaylee, who is only 13, showed up at the First Church of the Nazarene’s Trunk or Treat event over the weekend with her electric wheelchair converted into a Texarkana, Texas, patrol car.
TTPD administrators knew they had to make her one of their own.
The department honored Kaylee on Tuesday at the department’s training center.
“We are here for a special purpose today. Kaylee has always wanted to be a police officer
and we are going to appoint her an as honorary officer,” TTPD Chief Kevin Schutte said.
Schutte presented Kaylee with a certificate of appointment, a TTPD identification card, a patch, a lapel pin and — most importantly — an official TTPD badge.
“This makes it real,” Schutte said as he handed Kaylee the badge. “This is the icing on the cake.”
Schutte told Kaylee she could wear the lapel pin when she was in plain clothes instead of her uniform.
“Like at school,” Kaylee said. A friend of Kaylee’s family helped make her wheelchair into a police car for the Trunk or Treat event.
Kaylee’s grandmother sent photos of Kaylee and her police car to some actual Texarkana, Texas, Police Department officers because she thought they would enjoy it. A video was posted on Facebook and it has since received a lot of attention.
CBS News even called TTPD about the video, TTPD Spokesman Shawn Vaughn said.
Marilyn Nowlin, Kaylee’s grandmother, was overwhelmed with appreciation for the officers.
“I just wanted them to see the video. I had no idea they would do this,” she said.
Kaylee was born very premature and suffered a brain bleed, which left her with quadriplegic cerebral palsy, Nowlin said.
“She’s a miracle already,” she said. After she was presented with her badge and other items, Kaylee enjoyed meeting police officers and was able to use some of the equipment at the training center.