A Winning Attitude
PICTURED ABOVE
Grant County Deputy Devorah Dometrich Herbst credits her attitude in aiding with her success in karate and law enforcement. (Photo provided)
A soldier, police officer and record-breaking martial arts champion, Devorah Dometrich Herbst has maintained a winning attitude – a skill she cites as a driver for her success and an important skill for young law enforcement.
Serving the Grant County Sheriff’s Office today as an evidence technician, Herbst has amassed an illustrious career within her more than 30 years in law enforcement. Part of her determination and grit can be traced to early life in northern Kentucky, where many hours were spent at her father’s dojo. William Dometrich was a karate expert, and a law enforcement officer whose career saw him serve at the Boone County Sheriff’s Office and as the assistant police chief in Covington.
“That’s where I grew up,” Herbst said of her father’s karate school, noting the amount of discipline he instilled in her. “(Karate) kept me out of trouble and gave me a lot of the qualities I have today. Martial arts teaches people to know their limitations, both mentally and physically. You really learn when to call backup.”
The hours of training paid off. Despite her young age and small stature, in 1966, Herbst became the first Women’s National Karate Champion in both fighting and form. The then-15-year-old proved she had both natural ability and the will to work through the pain to meet her goal—especially true during a time before the discipline had widely adopted safety gear such as foot pads, head pads and gloves.
Herbst followed her father’s footsteps not only in martial arts, but also into her career. She had served as a paratrooper in the 101st Airborne Division, and as a young woman, Herbst found herself joining the United States Air Force. The decision to join the military came after her father cited this path as the best way to prepare for a law enforcement career, which Herbst desired.
The young soldier served during the Vietnam War, and eventually found herself stationed in Okinawa, Japan for five years. The station allowed Herbst to further her martial arts training. In 1977, she became the head of the US Rye Kyu Kobudo Hozon Shinkokai discipline, a practice Herbst explained as karate with weapons. She currently has 26 branch schools that reach to New Zealand, Germany, multiple American states and Canada.
That same year, Herbst was hired as a police officer in Crescent Springs, Ky. She completed her police training at what is now the Kentucky Department of Criminal Justice Training, graduating from basic training class 88. In 1978, she joined the Fort Mitchel Police Department, where she stayed a combined 13 years.
“The people made the police department, and the police department made the people,” she said, remembering her time at FMPD. “It was like family. It was like home.”
During her time as an officer, Herbst took on many different roles including reconstructionist, range officer, evidence tech, swat team negotiator and, for a time, a DOCJT satellite instructor—teaching many subjects but developing a special interest in cuffing techniques.
“It doesn’t matter if you arrest them for DUI, burglary or robbery. Cuffing is the most critical point of physical control,” she said.
Briefly, Herbst and her husband, Paul, a state trooper, relocated to Arizona, where they both continued working in law enforcement. However, the couple decided to return to their Kentucky home. Paul became police chief at Lakeside Park-Crestview Police Department and retired after 15 years.
Today, Herbst serves as an evidence technician at Grant County Sheriff’s Office and remains highly active teaching and practicing karate. She and Paul also enjoy the cattle and chickens on the farm they share.
When asked what she hopes her story teaches young women pursuing law enforcement, Herbst said it really doesn’t matter if someone is a man or a woman.
“To be an excellent police officer, it has to come with a certain attitude,” she said. “Survival is an attitude…I don’t think anyone should ever feel differently because of their gender, race or anything. I only ever thought about being the very best I could be and doing my very best. (If you do that), that’s all anybody can ask for.”
