This month’s First Watch First Responder – presented by First Watch, The Daytime Cafe at East 54 – is Klara Calderon-Guthe!
Klara Calderon-Guthe is a Police Officer II (PO2) with the Chapel Hill Police Department. She graduated from the Department’s Basic Law Enforcement Training (BLET) Academy in November 2018 and began on patrol in July 2019.
Calderon-Guthe is also in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. She has served four years in the Marines, coming from a long line of military family members.
“I wanted to serve my country like my brother, father, grandfathers, and great grandfathers,” Calderon-Guthe said. “I was drawn to military service and police service because I was taught from a young age that service to my country and my community and helping others are the most important work a person can do.”
The biggest challenge during COVID-19 has been Calderon-Guthe’s removal from her family. Between high-risk parents and siblings that live far away, she says it’s hard to not be able to travel and see them.
A Chapel Hill native, Calderon-Guthe said she wanted to give back to the community that helped raise her. She left Chapel Hill briefly for UNC Wilmington, studying criminology, sociology, and women’s gender studies. She continued her education through the pandemic earning a post baccalaureate in forensic science and crime scene investigation. Calderon-Guthe would like to get involved in CHPD’s SERT (Special Emergency Response Team) and Crime Scene Investigation units as she continues her career with the Guardians of the Hill.
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