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Capital Area Theodore Roosevelt Police
Award
2004 Honoree: Detective Kyle Olinger
 On November 9, 2004 the Capital Area Chapter of the TRA became the 10th site to sponsor the prestigious Theodore Roosevelt Police Award. The event was the first major community service project of our newly reformed chapter. More than 50 people gathered at the Reserve Officer's Association in the shadow of the US Capitol to honor Montgomery County Maryland Police Detective Kyle Olinger. The Chapter found Olinger particularly in keeping with the spirit of TR's ideals and selected him from a field of six nominees representing local, state and federal law enforcement agencies in the metropolitan Washington, DC area.
The following citation honoring Detective Olinger was read aloud at the ceremony and included in its entirety in the printed program:
Around midnight on August 13, 2003 Montgomery County Police Officer Kyle Olinger was on routine patrol in the central business district of Silver Spring, Maryland when he made a traffic stop that would change his life forever. He approached a parked car and found the driver --its sole occupant-- had no license. After instructing the driver to leave the car and depart from the area, moments later Kyle spotted the vehicle moving. He pulled the vehicle over and found that it now had three occupants. As he had the driver step out of the car, he saw the front seat passenger make a furtive movement. Kyle quickly moved to the right side of the vehicle, approaching the front passenger from the back. While speaking with the passenger, Kyle saw a gun between the man's feet. He immediately pulled his gun, backed away from the vehicle and called for back-up on his radio. In that instant, the passenger bent over and picked-up his gun. As Kyle moved closer to the car and ordered the passenger to drop the gun, with one hand the assailant pulled Kyle's arms into the car and with the other shot him in the neck at point-blank range. The three suspects then pulled away and left Kyle lying on the ground.
In the tense moments after the shooting, Kyle was able to hold his radio so that a witness could call for help. Despite the gravity of his wound, he managed to stay calm and alert and provided fellow officers with descriptions of the suspects and an account of the event such that they were able to apprehend the trio within about 90 minutes. This information also was crucial in prosecuting the gunman, who was convicted of attempted first-degree murder in September 2004.
Later at the hospital before undergoing the first of several grueling surgeries, Kyle was concerned that radio transmissions of the event be made available for training fellow officers. "This selfless act of character and dedication to duty in the face of what he suspected at that time to be life-threatening injuries speaks volumes of the …strength and courage Officer Olinger displayed then and on a daily basis," according to Lieutenant John Hack, who nominated Kyle for the Theodore Roosevelt Police Award.
Kyle's indomitable spirit has been evident ever since, through months of painful rehabilitation and the process of remaking his life. Kyle remains paralyzed from the chest down with a .32 caliber bullet lodged in his spine. Even so, he chose to return to work, and on April 20, 2004 rejoined the force as a detective in the special investigations unit.
Before joining the Montgomery County Police Department in 2002, Kyle was an officer with the Reading (Pa.) Police Department and a United States Marine. He holds a bachelors degree in history from the University of Maryland Baltimore County and is a black belt in Aikido. Kyle has one son, Justin, age 15.
Doug Hill, chief meteorologist for WJLA ABC-7 news, served as master of ceremony. A former police officer, Hill spoke passionately about the dedication of law enforcement officers and the need to recognize their sacrifices. TRA president Norman Parsons came from New York to speak about the history of the Police Award. Greg Wynn, president of the Capital Area Chapter and Norman Parsons presented the award to Detective Olinger. Chief J. Thomas Manger of the Montgomery County Police Department also recognized Kyle's heroism and gritty determination and noted that in his current position, Kyle performs the same duties as any other officer working in a similar capacity. Following the ceremony, guests had the opportunity to mix and mingle while enjoying a buffet luncheon.
Special guests at the ceremony included Kyle Olinger's fiancée, Jeana King, his parents Warren and RuthAnn Olinger who drove in that day from Pennsylvania, and his best friend David Andre and his wife Dana. Greg Wynn also acknowledged several people from the law enforcement community, including Carl Peed, director of the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services at the US Department of Justice, Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, and Colonel Thomas Hutchins, superintendent of the Maryland State Police. In addition to Kyle's coworkers and superiors from Montgomery County Police, officers from several other jurisdictions and organizations attended, including Fairfax City Police, Montgomery County Park Police, the Fraternal Order of Police and the Maryland State Police.
The Montgomery County Police Department was instrumental in publicizing the event to Washington area media outlets. In addition to a segment presented by Doug Hill on WJLA, WUSA CBS-9 ran a story on the ceremony and it was reported in local newspapers including the Frederick News Post and Washington Hispanic.
Overall the ceremony was a fitting and worthy tribute to a most deserving individual.
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