Officer Holliday Relishes Reaching Out to the Community

Aldine ISD Police Officer Ariel Holliday has been in law enforcement for six years. During that time, she served in many capacities, including as a patrol officer and investigator. While she has enjoyed working in several roles, she relishes her newest duty, serving as the Aldine ISD Police Department’s Community Outreach Officer.

When the position became available in August of 2021, she leaped at the opportunity to serve as the department’s face in the Aldine community. Her job is to represent the AISD Police Department at special events, safety talks, public-facing events, and situations where police officers interact with young people. She has organized her fellow officers in basketball, kickball, and softball events with AISD students.

She has a busy schedule, attending community events such as National Night Out, visiting Aldine ISD campuses every week, and sharing her kindness and compassion with students and adults.

Holliday is the first member of her family to go into law enforcement. As a child, she remembers watching TV shows about police officers, and her father encouraged her to consider becoming a law enforcement officer.

“My dad pushed me to the police academy, and I’m thankful he did,” Holliday said.

Holliday, a graduate of Elkins High School, worked for Precinct 2 in Fort Bend County, Prairie View A&M University, and returned to the Aldine ISD Police Department in April of 2021 (she had served with the ASID PD for three years before her stints with Fort Bend and Prairie View).

She’s glad she came back.

Holliday is always moving in her new role. She visits AISD campuses twice a week to visit students and develop a bond with them.

With April being Community Outreach Month, Holliday knows the importance of being open and honest about her profession.

“I love seeing the different faces and interacting with people. I really like to help,” she said. “My main goal is to create a bond between students, the community, and our police officers.”
In addition to being one of the ‘good guys,’ Holliday also focuses on bullying when visiting with students.

“I want our students to know it’s not OK to bully. I also want them to know they can reach out to a teacher or me if they feel they are being bullied. I want to see it (bullying) go down. It’s a problem.”

While police officers put their lives on the line daily to protect the public, Holliday admitted that her profession had been seen in a negative light by different factions across the country in the past couple of years. That’s why she takes her job so seriously.

“I work to develop a trust factor with our students,” she said. “We need kids to respect us. One of my other goals is to change how people see us. Some always view us as being the bad guy, but we are here to provide help and assistance. I hope to expand this program and get more officers involved.”

Holliday keeps her calendar full. When she visits schools on a Monday, it’s “Motivational Monday,” Tuesday is “Talk it Out Tuesday,” Wednesday is Wild About Wednesdays,” Thursday is “Thriving Thursday,” and Friday is “Thank Goodness it’s Friday.”

She can also be found on weekends at softball tournaments, community gatherings, and other community-based events.

Aldine ISD Police Chief Paul Cordova said he believes Officer Holliday is the perfect fit for the Community Outreach Officer.

“Officer Holliday has all the traits we love about our Aldine ISD Police Officers,” Cordova said. “She is kind, compassionate, communicative, energetic, responsive, and courageous. Both kids and adults love to be around her. Reaching out to the community comes naturally to her, and she is a perfect fit for this position.”