Kingfisher Police Department’s newest patrolman has had his eye on Kingfisher since his high school days at Bethany.

“I remember coming here in high school for football games and being kind of jealous,” Officer Tyler Girten said. “There’s just a great sense of community here.”

He said he enjoyed later trips to Kingfisher where he would “sit in the diner and listen to everyone talking” about local interests and activities.

A 2017 graduate of Bethany High School, Girten also is a graduate of OSU-OKC’s cops program and will receive his certification in May.

This is Girten’s first law enforcement job and he said he is “happy to be here.”

“My dad is a cop so that’s part of the reason why I wanted to be one,” he said. “I’m enjoying working in Kingfisher and I plan to move here.”

He currently is riding with a training officer on day shift, but when his training is complete, he will be assigned to his own patrol car on the night shift.

Another new officer is expected to come on board in coming weeks to fill the last of recent vacancies on the force.