PINE BLUFF, Ark. – On Thursday, the Pine Bluff Police Department honored one of their fallen officers by naming their training center in his honor. 

On this day 3 years ago, Pine Bluff detective Kevin Collins was involved in a shooting and died while on duty.

Detective Collins served for the Pine Bluff Police department for five years starting in 2015. He was named officer of the year in 2017, he was 35 when he was killed.

“He was the definition of community policing,” his mother, Dornetta Collins Hobb said.

Inside the Kevin Collins Training Center, plaques, certificates, and awards he earned over the years in law enforcement, a career he always dreamed of. 

Collins-Hobbs said this is the ultimate way to honor her son because it ensures that his legacy can live on and on forever.

October 5, 2020, is a day Dornetta Hobbs will never forget but finds a way to still be thankful because she said that Kevin Died doing what he loved doing.

She said once the dream of being in law enforcement was reality, training and perfecting what he loved to do was a big part.

‘So, this would be just wonderful with him,” she said referring to the training center. 

Knowing her son impacted so many lives brings a smile to her face, but the smile can’t mask the never-ending emotion.

She said losing her son is “like a balloon I’ve blown into and the air is just seeping out.”

But that balloon continues to fill back up because of her belief that God makes no mistakes.

“It was a purpose in his living on a purpose in his dying. We will see each other again.”