Fortunately Officer Gilstrap was able to
get the situation under control and the two were arrested and charged. We are
delighted to report that he is now back on the patrol. For a couple of years he filled in on a
temporary basis, but is now working for us regularly.
Matt grew up in Flowery Branch, Georgia, a small town north
of Buford, and he graduated from West Hall High School in 1996. He then completed
a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Southern Polytechnic
State University (now a part of Kennesaw State). Note that Matt is not claiming
KSU as his alma mater!
He worked for about two years as a design engineer primarily
on civil and structural projects, and as he relates it, “hated every minute of
it.” He tells us that being “stuck behind a desk all day every day was not for
me.” As a change of pace he spent six years working in the field of pipeline
construction, before deciding to become a police officer. He has now been on
the force for a little over four years.
Officer Gilstrap says that, without a doubt the people he
works with are the best part of his job. Even though the members of the
specialized unit he is assigned to are all very different, it doesn’t matter.
They are all focused on the same goal – to go out and find the bad guys and put
them in jail.
When asked for a safety tip, Matt shared his thoughts about
situational awareness. He says that, “it is very easy to become overly focused
on your phone or something else. If you stay alert, and keep you head on a
swivel, not only will you possibly spot trouble early enough to avoid it, but
you also send a message to would be criminals. They notice this, and will probably
find a softer target.”
Outside of work Matt has been married to his wife, Maggie,
for eleven years and they have a wonderful seven year old daughter named Clair.
Mac, a yellow lab and a certifiably crazy cat named Izzy round out the family.
If he wasn’t a police officer he shared that he would be a machinist/fabricator
as he loves metalworking and fixing things.
He sure is helping us to fix things here in Virginia
Highland as he works to keep us all safe and the bad guys off the streets. In
fact, in addition to the good results he has had with APD, the first month he
was back on FBAC Patrol he made and arrest on a parole violation here in the neighborhood.
Well done Officer Gilstrap!
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