Celebrated with a Precinct Walk-Out, seven officers of the Fourth Precinct in Hauppauge were greeted by friends, family, coworkers, and community officials as they ease their way back into civilian life on Thursday, January 25. One of these esteemed officers is Brian Holtje.
Brian Holtje is a well-respected and decorated officer who currently serves his community as an Anti Crime Officer in the Fourth precinct. At just five years old, Holtje moved with his family from Flushing, Queens, to Hauppauge, and has been serving the area ever since. Working in a multitude of units over his thirty-one years as an officer, Holtje has made over 700 arrests throughout his career. Since he was sworn into the force in 1993, he has worked in Fourth Precinct Patrol, the Fourth Precinct Community Oriented Police and Enforcement (COPE) unit now referred to as Community Support Unit (CSU), Canine Section, Fourth Precinct Crime Section, and Fourth Precinct Anticrime.
“It’s funny, I don’t like to talk about myself, in terms of naming accomplishments,” says Officer Holtje. “I consider myself very lucky to have been a part of an outstanding police department, the best in my eyes.” Ultimately, Officer Holtje’s wife convinced him to tell us about just a few of the many accomplishments he has reached.
Holtje has a lengthy award history, including being awarded Cop of the Month eight times, Cop of the Year three times, and Exceptional Police Service twice.
One of those awards was earned fairly recently, while Officer Holtje was off duty with his family enjoying the Bacon Festival at the Pennysaver Amphitheater at Bald Hill in Farmingville in 2017. According to his supervisor, he heard a commotion across the parking lot and heard that someone was possibly struck by a car. As it turned out, an unmanned military Humvee located at the festival came out of gear and rolled down hill into the crowd striking a woman and nearly severing her arm below the elbow and causing an additional severe wound to her left leg. The woman was bleeding profusely from both injuries. Officer Holtje was one of two off duty officers that immediately jumped in to render aid to the woman to address these life-threatening injuries. Their actions that day were effective in controlling her bleeding and saving her life. For his efforts, Officer Holtje was awarded the Exceptional Police Service Award.
This wasn’t Officer Holtje’s first time completing his civic duties to the highest degree. On June 15, 2009, Officer Holtje along with several other officers responded to a report of an armed home invasion of a family with small children in Lake Grove. When police responded to the victim’s address several suspects ran out the back door. Officer Holtje and another officer gave chase and apprehended two suspects following a foot pursuit. As a result of their efforts, two handguns were recovered, and the suspects were arrested and charged with Burglary and Assault.
Holtje also tells us about the third time he was recognized as Cop of the Year, which was for several arrests in which he was involved.
“I assisted the Fourth Precinct detectives in identifying and arresting a subject for a robbery of a liquor store on Smithtown Boulevard in Nesconset,” says Holtje. “I arrested two subjects for numerous larcenies from vehicles in the Commack area, I assisted the Fourth Precinct detectives with locating and arresting a subject for Menacing in the Second Degree (threatening another with a weapon), I arrested a subject with felony weight possession of cocaine and illegal possession of Xanax pills (80), I arrested, along with the Anti-Crime unit, a known subject wanted for six warrants and subsequently the subject was in possession of Fentanyl, Adderall, Xanax, and a weapon, and lastly I assisted the detectives with an arrest of a subject wanted for a knife-point robbery.
Holtje’s supervisor also shared with The Messenger an incident just a few years after the start of Officer Holtje’s career. In October 1999, Officer Holtje was on patrol and responded to an armed robbery of a gas station near Motor Parkway. He and his partner observed a car matching the description of the suspect vehicle. They attempted to apprehend the vehicle, but the suspect took off. During a high-speed pursuit that ensued, the suspect lost control and skidded off the road. Officer Holtje and his partner boxed him in and apprehended him without further incident. The cash from the robbery and a loaded rifle were recovered from the suspect’s vehicle. The suspect was charged with that armed robbery along with eight other robberies occurring in Suffolk County. This arrest earned Officer Holtje and his partner, Officer Scott Badeer, Cop of the month in May of 1999.
“The biggest thing that I will miss most of all, is the camaraderie,” says Officer Holtje. “I’ve made great friends in the precinct and department as a whole. I’ve vacationed, barbecued, celebrated special occasions with, and that doesn’t include all the breakfasts, lunches, and dinners with [people from the precinct and department]. I still have K9 Razor; He’ll be 14 years old in March. He’s slowed down but he’s such a part of our family. My wife and daughters just love him.”
Holtje transferred into the K9 unit in May of 2011 where he was assigned to Razor, his K9 partner. Together, Razor and Holtje went through sixteen weeks of initial training which focused on obedience, evidence searching, handler protection, and tracking training. After these 16 weeks, the two conducted several months of explosive detection to earn Razor the title of “Bomb Dog.” In 2017, Razor was coming up for retirement, however he continues to be cared for by the Holtje family.
“Retirement is bittersweet. I love being a cop, but I believed it was time to go. I loved working anti-crime; it’s best described as being a street cop,” explained Officer Holtje. “Now, I’m just looking to take it easy for a little bit before I/we set off on a new chapter,” concluded Holtje, starting a well-deserved ending to a decorated and selfless career.
“Brian Holtje is one of the most exceptional officers I have had the pleasure to work with,” says Lieutenant Brian Michels, of the Fourth Precinct Crime Section. “His skills in investigating cases, mentoring younger officers, and presence as a consummate professional are second to none. He is an irreplaceable component of the Fourth Precinct Anti-crime Unit and will be sorely missed by our department.”
The Messenger would like to thank Officer Holtje and his fellow officers, Officer John Miranda, Officer Brian Moore, Officer Vincent Liberato, Officer Carol Tappen, Officer Peter Montenegro, and Officer Patrick Halpin for their bravery and courageous service to our community and extend our sincerest congratulations on their retirement.
