After 31 years of service and five years’ retirement, former Statesboro Police commander John Raymond “J.R.” Holloway was honored recently in being awarded the title of police chief.

The Statesboro City Council issued a proclamation May 17 bestowing the rank to Holloway, who retired under the rank of “commander,” but had filled the role of police chief, said Statesboro Mayor Jan Moore.

The city eliminated the police and fire chief ranks in 2010, creating the title of public safety director to oversee both departments. Soon thereafter, the position of fire chief was reinstated, but until earlier this year, the police chief position was not. Today the city is seeking a candidate to fill the newly-reinstated chief position. The change came about when former public safety director Wendell Turner left for another position.

Holloway was the first black man to lead the Statesboro Police Department as commander, under Turner’s supervision. City leaders and fellow police officers, however, this year decided Holloway deserved the rank of chief, and as a measure of respect and honor during National Police Week, bestowed the title in retrospect.

Moore credited Major Rob Bryan, currently serving as interim chief, with the idea, but Bryan said it was a mutual suggestion between him, other officers, and city leaders.

“It was not solely my idea,” he said. “It was a very big and collaborative group effort.”

Holloway was touched by the honor.

“It means a great deal to me,” he said. “Commander means chief, but…not really chief.”

Holloway’s history

Holloway retired Oct. 1. 2011 after 31 years with the Statesboro Police Department. A heartwarming reception at Luetta Moore Park drew a crowd of local dignitaries, law enforcement officers, and friends.

At the reception, former Statesboro city manager Carter Crawford said “J.R. Holloway is honest, full of integrity and a very ethical individual. If you follow this man, you cannot go wrong.”
June DiPolito, executive director of Pineland Services, told him: "We know we could always call on you 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”

Calling Holloway a “leader in his field,” she praised him for support of awareness in crisis prevention and the needs of mentally and emotionally challenged citizens.
Former Statesboro city manager Frank Parker said during the reception he always considered Holloway “not just a commander, but commander in chief.”

Holloway was promoted to detective within five years after his being hired as a patrol officer in 1980. The following year he was promoted to detective sergeant. Two years later, he was named a lieutenant over the uniform division.
    Twelve years later, Holloway was made lieutenant commander of the detective division, and little more than a year afterward was named detective captain. In 2002, he was promoted to major over the uniform division, a role he kept until the promotion in 2010 to commander.
A significant event during Holloway’s service to the city was the arrest of a highly sought rapist.

A scrapbook on a table at the retirement reception displayed several commendations and awards, but one stood out: a letter of commendation from former Statesboro police chief Merle Clark, thanking Holloway for playing a major role in capturing the notorious I-75 stalker, Gary Owen Porter, in 1984.
Porter had committed a robbery and rape in Statesboro, and while detectives were working the scene, Holloway spotted a suspicious man who refused to look at him as he drove down U.S. 80 West.
Holloway stopped the man, who turned out to be Porter, and while Porter fled on foot, Holloway secured his car and a purse containing jewelry and other evidence from the scene. When Porter was captured in Alabama, Holloway’s keen sense of policing helped convict him of the crimes committed in Statesboro.

Statesboro’s first black police chief

First commander, and now holding the official title of chief, Holloway is the city’s first black law enforcement leader.

The promotion is of historical significance, but the Holloway is humble about the issue.
“I enjoy being a black man, a black policeman, but I have the same morals, same spirituality as the white officers,” he said shortly after his promotion in 2010. “I’m proud that God saw fit for me to be first in that position,” he said. “J.R. Holloway will be a name in history.”

As for the recent “promotion” to chief in retrospect, he said he is proud and humbled.

“It feels like the real deal,” he said. “Thank God the city saw fit to do the right thing, with no fussing and cussing about it.”

Moore said “It is recognition of the title in which he was serving. During his tenure, he functioned as police chief. It is very important to recognize his service.”
Holloway’s retirement and pay is not affected by the rank.

“I think it is something that honors J.R. the way he should be honored,” Bryan said. “He basically functioned in that position. He has tirelessly served the community and still serves it. He is a pillar of this community.”

Honors, training, and more

Holloway trained with the Federal Bureau of Investigations National Academy, the Georgia Chiefs of Police Command College, and GACP Chief’s program.     

According to a previous column by Dr. Charles Bonds, published in the Statesboro Herald in 2014, Holloway also served as a member of the board of directors for the Boys & Girls Club of Bulloch County, providing input for programs and activities; volunteered with Ogeechee Area Hospice as a member of the board of directors; and serves as a minister, deacon and Sunday school teacher at the Body of Christ Assembly in Brooklet.

Today, Holloway enjoys carpentry, a field in which he worked before becoming a police officer. He said he helped build many homes in the Country Club and Irongate area.

He also raises cattle on his small Bulloch County farm, and is “enjoying growing older,” he said.

But, he leaves behind a legacy, Bryan said, “He helped make a lot of (Statesboro Police Department) employees what they are today.

Herald reporter Holli Deal Saxon may be reached at (912) 489-9414.