GREENFIELD — After starting out his career as a reserve officer with the Greenfield Police Department 23 years ago, Lt. Matt Holland will officially retire from the force today (Friday, Sept. 17).
Holland, 43, ceremonially signaled his end of tour on Sept. 10, saying after more than 21 years as a full-time career officer, it was time to move on.
While Holland says he’s looking forward to the future and doing something else, he’ll miss being a GPD officer and all the people in the community he’s become close to on the job.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity I have been given with the department,” Holland said. “I’d consider it my first real job, but I am also excited to begin a new opportunity.”
Holland started as the head of security at Hancock Regional Hospital on Monday, Sept. 13.
“I feel good about my decision because the times I’ve worked with them in the past they’ve been great and professional,” Holland said. “I know this job will have its own kind of stress, but I’m not going to miss the stress that comes with being a police officer on the streets nowadays.”
Holland said he first dreamed of being a police officer when he was a child. After graduating from Greenfield-Central High School and obtaining a degree in criminal justice from IUPUI, Holland joined the GPD and made the department his home for over two decades.
“I know I’m still young, but in the field of law enforcement, I’m not,” Holland said. “It’s a younger man’s job, and it was time for me to look at a new career and new challenge.”
Holland started his professional career as a reserve officer in 1998 and then became a full-time officer in 2000, making his way through the ranks.
Despite moving on, Holland said it wasn’t easy saying so long to his fellow officers, people he’s worked with for years who became like family.
“I have had the great pleasure and opportunity to work alongside many great police officers who have had my back on the streets,” Holland said. “I will miss the camaraderie of my fellow brothers and sisters in blue most of all.”
Holland noted his law enforcement career would have been much more difficult had he not served in a community where citizens support police officers, even during difficult times. It’s a perspective he can’t stress enough.
“Police work is a tough job both mentally and physically,” Holland said. “I sincerely appreciate that I was so fortunate to work for such a supportive community. I really want to thank the community.”
Holland, who grew up in Fortville before moving to Greenfield, gave up his position with the GPD as deputy chief and public information officer in 2020 and went back onto the streets as an officer. The move gave him more time to run in the Republican primary for the District 3 Hancock County commissioner seat. He lost to the eventual winner in the general election, Bill Spalding.
Holland, a New Palestine resident who is an elected member of the Sugar Creek Township Board, has no current plans to seek a higher office, but his desire to serve leaves that possibility open.
At the time Holland stepped down as deputy chief at GPD, he said he was happy to go back to a normal shift where he had more interaction with his fellow officers. This week, he said he was glad he was able to finish up the final part of his career just like he started, working the streets and interacting with the community.
Holland, who is married with two children, also is looking forward to spending more time with his family.
“I really wanted a safer, more routine type of job at this point in my life with new challenges, something fresh,” Holland said.
