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FEB 2022. Blues Vol 38 No. 2

FEATURES • Vote Their Ass Out • Remembering Those We’ve Lost to COVID • Remembering Those We’ve Lost to LOD Deaths • Harris County Jails - A Broken System DEPARTMENTS • Publisher’s Thoughts • Editor’s Thoughts •. Your Thoughts • News Around the US • Training - Prepare Yourself • Technology - Livestream 911 Calls • War Stories • Aftermath • Open Road • Healing Our Heroes • Daryl’s Deliberations • HPOU - From the President, Douglas Griffith • Reverse Light Bulb Award • Running 4 Heroes • Blue Mental Health with Tina Jaeckle • Off Duty with Rusty Barron • Ads Back in the Day • Parting Shots • Now Hiring - L.E.O. Positions Open in Texas • Back Page

FEATURES
• Vote Their Ass Out
• Remembering Those We’ve Lost to COVID
• Remembering Those We’ve Lost to LOD Deaths
• Harris County Jails - A Broken System

DEPARTMENTS
• Publisher’s Thoughts
• Editor’s Thoughts
•. Your Thoughts
• News Around the US
• Training - Prepare Yourself
• Technology - Livestream 911 Calls
• War Stories
• Aftermath
• Open Road
• Healing Our Heroes
• Daryl’s Deliberations
• HPOU - From the President, Douglas Griffith
• Reverse Light Bulb Award
• Running 4 Heroes
• Blue Mental Health with Tina Jaeckle
• Off Duty with Rusty Barron
• Ads Back in the Day
• Parting Shots
• Now Hiring - L.E.O. Positions Open in Texas
• Back Page

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The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 1


FOUNDED IN 1984<br />

<strong>FEB</strong>RUARY 2022<br />

FEATURES<br />

48 Vote Their Ass Out<br />

52 Remembering Those We’ve Lost to COVID<br />

56 Remembering Those We’ve Lost to LOD Deaths<br />

72 Harris County Jails - A Broken System<br />

ON THE COVER<br />

Our Feature story this month,<br />

looks at the ongoing problems<br />

at the HC Jail. Plus we honor<br />

three fallen Texas officers.<br />

DEPARTMENTS<br />

10 Publisher’s Thoughts<br />

12 Editor’s Thoughts<br />

14 Your Thoughts<br />

16 News Around the US<br />

42 Training - Prepare Yourself<br />

46 Technology - Livestream 911 Calls<br />

88 War Stories<br />

92 Aftermath<br />

96 Open Road<br />

98 Healing Our Heroes<br />

110 Daryl’s Deliberations<br />

104 HPOU - From the President, Douglas Griffith<br />

106 Reverse Light Bulb Award<br />

108 Running 4 Heroes<br />

110 Blue Mental Health with Tina Jaeckle<br />

112 Off Duty with Rusty Barron<br />

114 Ads Back in the Day<br />

118 Parting Shots<br />

120 <strong>No</strong>w Hiring - L.E.O. Positions Open in Texas<br />

160 Back Page<br />

88 92<br />

OFF DUTY<br />

BY RUSTY BARRON 112<br />

2 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 3


ALL POLICE OFFICERS NEED TO VOTE FOR<br />

OSCAR IN THE PRIMARY ELECTION ON<br />

MARCH 1, 2022<br />

OSCAR GONZALES IS THE ONLY REPUBLICAN<br />

WHO IS A RETIRED DEPUTY SHERIFF!<br />

As a retired Master Peace Officer, I will…<br />

• Work closely with local law enforcement, the District Attorney, and our court<br />

system to help lower crime in Harris County<br />

• End multiple bonds for repeat violent offenders<br />

• <strong>No</strong> bonds for capital murder<br />

• We are going to put our police FIRST and provide them with any support<br />

necessary to include: increased funding, manpower, equipment and<br />

improved multi-agency interaction<br />

• Together we’ll weather any storm that comes our way and assist our<br />

citizens during those unforeseen events<br />

• We will cut wasteful spending and fight to lower our high property taxes<br />

without cutting county jobs<br />

30 Year Public Servant / Retired Harris<br />

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Extensive knowledge of county<br />

operations and procedures<br />

Years of experience working within the<br />

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4 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 5


Murderers Being Released<br />

Back On Our Streets To Kill Again!<br />

UPCOMING MARCH 1<br />

HARRIS COUNTY<br />

REPUBLICAN PRIMARY<br />

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!<br />

Vidal Martinez is a former Federal Prosecutor who<br />

will reverse Lina Hidalgo's failed “catch and release”<br />

scheme.<br />

Vidal Martinez will make sure law enforcement is<br />

fully supported, and funded.<br />

It’s time to support our law enforcement<br />

It’s time to make our streets safe again<br />

It’s time to elect Vidal Martinez as our<br />

next Harris County Judge<br />

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The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 7


FOUNDED IN 1984<br />

OUR TEAM<br />

MICHAEL BARRON<br />

founder & publisher<br />

MICHAEL BARRON<br />

editor-n-chief<br />

REX EVANS<br />

contributing editor<br />

JESSICA JONES<br />

creative editor<br />

RUSTY BARRON<br />

outdoor editor<br />

DR. TINA JAECKLE<br />

contributing editor<br />

DARYL LOTT<br />

contributing editor<br />

SAM HORWITZ & JOHN SALERNO<br />

contributing editors<br />

DOUGLAS GRIFFITH<br />

HPOU contributing editor<br />

AMBER ROBERTS<br />

BAILEY BARRON<br />

sales team<br />

OUR CONTRIBUTORS<br />

T. EDISON<br />

contributing writer / light bulb<br />

get your<br />

FREE SUBSCRIPTION<br />

to The BLUES, scan the<br />

QR code or click here.<br />

MICHAEL BARRON<br />

warstory/aftermath<br />

MARIAH RUSH<br />

contributing writer<br />

ROB LOW<br />

contributing writer<br />

ADRIAN GOMEZ<br />

contributing writer<br />

LT. DAN MARCOU<br />

contributing writer<br />

TERRY RYAN<br />

contributing writer<br />

The BLUES Police Magazine is published monthly by Kress-Barr, LLC, PO Box 2733, League City Texas 77574. The opinions<br />

expressed in some articles, op-eds, and editorials are those of the author and do not reflect the opinion of<br />

The BLUES or its parent company. Rebuttals or submission of news articles and editorials may be submitted to: The<br />

BLUES Police Magazine @ thebluespdmag@gmail.com. The entire contents of The BLUES are copyrighted and may<br />

not be reprinted without the express permission of the publisher. The BLUES logo is a Trademark of Kress-Barr, LLC.<br />

8 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 9


FROM THE PUBLISHER’S DESK<br />

michael barron<br />

Again, ENOUGH is Truly ENOUGH<br />

Twenty-four months ago, when<br />

we launched the Digital Version<br />

of the BLUES, the cover story was<br />

Enough is Enough! That issue<br />

covered the deaths of several LE<br />

officers in Texas.<br />

Over the next 24 months, 25 Texas<br />

police officers would lose their<br />

lives to violence on Texas streets.<br />

Last month we paid tribute to 877<br />

officers across the country that lost<br />

their lives in that same time period.<br />

Eight Hundred Seventy-Seven!<br />

That’s the most killed EVER in a<br />

two- year period. Since time began!<br />

And departments wonder why<br />

they can’t fill open slots for police<br />

officers. Who the hell wants to be<br />

a cop when there’s a 75% chance<br />

you’ll get shot, hurt or get COVID<br />

before your shift is over?<br />

We need law enforcement. Without<br />

it, there’s anarchy. Look at the<br />

cities that defended the police. We<br />

won’t have that in Texas. We are<br />

better than that. But if officers keep<br />

losing their lives every day, the<br />

desire to become a cop and defend<br />

the Thin Blue Line will dwindle<br />

even farther.<br />

The ONLY ANSWER is to keep the<br />

bad guys in jail and make ANY assault<br />

on a police officer a NO BOND<br />

offense. You sit in the jail until your<br />

case goes to trial. And in Houston<br />

that’s a long ass time. (of course,<br />

there is no room in the jails, so<br />

that’s a whole other problem.)<br />

If you kill anyone in law enforcement<br />

in the U.S., it should be an<br />

automatic death sentence regardless<br />

of what state it occurs in. Kill<br />

a cop, you die. It’s the only way this<br />

will stop. In the old west days, if<br />

you killed someone, they hung you<br />

at high noon. <strong>No</strong> bonds, no long<br />

trials, you did the crime you paid<br />

with your life.<br />

Judges and District Attorneys.<br />

They are the root of the problem.<br />

Case in point is a 17-year-old<br />

scumbag named Frank DeLong<br />

who shot 16-year Diamond Alvarez<br />

while she was out walking her dog.<br />

And why did he shoot her 22 times?<br />

Because she had a new boyfriend.<br />

And what does the DA recommend?<br />

A $250,000 bond and the scumbag’s<br />

family paid the $25,000 and<br />

he’s back out on the street.<br />

Judges who post low or no<br />

bonds on scum bags that are already<br />

out on bond, need to be held<br />

accountable. If a crook gets out on<br />

bond and kills someone, charge the<br />

judge with accessory to murder. I<br />

realize that isn’t a law, but it should<br />

be. Guarantee if a judge was held<br />

responsible for what a person did<br />

while out on bond, they would be<br />

no more people out on bonds.<br />

A Houston city councilman has<br />

also had enough. Michael Kubosh,<br />

Houston City Council Member At-<br />

Large Position 3, has taken unprecedented<br />

steps to hold judges<br />

accountable for granting several<br />

felony bonds to repeat violent<br />

offenders. He’s filing a Judicial Bar<br />

grievance against every judge in<br />

Harris County that has granted<br />

these low bonds.<br />

“We have to give them a strong<br />

message they can’t do this anymore<br />

without the public getting<br />

involved,” Kubosh said. “Filing a<br />

Judicial Bar grievance will get their<br />

attention trust me.”<br />

But what can you and I do to stop<br />

this madness? Can we make a difference?<br />

You bet your ass we can.<br />

This is an election year. Vote these<br />

MICHAEL BARRON<br />

asshat, low life liberal judges out<br />

of office. Starting this month, look<br />

for our new “VOTE THEIR ASS OUT”<br />

pages dedicated to unseating these<br />

morons. Do your part even if you<br />

don’t live in Harris County.<br />

A good majority of our readers<br />

WORK in Harris County so spread<br />

the word to every victim of crime<br />

you encounter. Tell them if they<br />

want these to chance it starts with<br />

them. We will also post a list of all<br />

these low-life judges on our website<br />

that need to go. Change starts<br />

and ends with us making it happen.<br />

And it doesn’t matter whether<br />

they are Republican or Democrat.<br />

Vote for the man or woman who’s<br />

right for the job and has your best<br />

interest at heart. The person that<br />

believes in justice and will put the<br />

bad guys away for good. This revolving<br />

door of injustice starts with<br />

us. YOU are the one that will make<br />

Harris County safe again.<br />

Enough is enough needs to be<br />

more than a quote. It needs to be a<br />

call to action. Let’s answer the call<br />

and stop the killing of our brothers<br />

and sisters in BLUE.<br />

10 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 11


FROM THE GUEST EDITOR’S DESK<br />

rex evans<br />

L.E. Suicide, We Have to do a Better<br />

Job of Helping Our Fellow Officers.<br />

This month’s column isn’t about<br />

one Law Enforcement Officer<br />

Suicide. It’s about ALL Law Enforcement<br />

Officer Suicides! For<br />

the last two decades, we know<br />

that Line of Duty deaths among<br />

officers who took their own lives,<br />

has more than doubled.<br />

Interestingly, another trend has<br />

emerged. Statistics show that female<br />

officer suicides are rising at<br />

an alarming rate, as are younger<br />

officers, those 30 and under.<br />

<strong>No</strong>w, some who have degrees in<br />

Psychology say this is because<br />

of internalization or some other<br />

such clinical term.<br />

Years of practical experience<br />

tells me, quite another story.<br />

Police work is NOT all balloons,<br />

sticker badges and coffee with a<br />

cop. Police work can be violent,<br />

wretched, heartbreaking and soul<br />

crushing. The things LE officers<br />

are called upon to see and do,<br />

no one should ever have to experience.<br />

Let alone do it over and<br />

over again each shift for 25-35<br />

years.<br />

The “average” patrol officer<br />

carries approximately 20-40<br />

pounds of gear, body armor,<br />

weapons and ammunition on<br />

their body for 8, 10, even 12-16<br />

hours a day. Just “gearing up”<br />

for a day/evening/night on patrol<br />

puts one in the mindset of “Survival<br />

Mode”. This sense of “High<br />

Alert” is ever present throughout<br />

their shift. That’s all before, your<br />

first call for service.<br />

Add in shootings, stabbings,<br />

auto-pedestrians, auto vs auto<br />

crashes, bloody violent assaults,<br />

sexual assaults, and child abuse.<br />

Then there’s elderly abuse, many<br />

at the hands of relatives or close<br />

friends of the victims. As the<br />

responding officer, you are required<br />

to handle these tragedies<br />

with stellar professionalism and<br />

the understanding that they will<br />

be reviewed under a microscope.<br />

You’re judged for every single<br />

move you make, and every word<br />

you speak. All captured on dash<br />

& body cams.<br />

In the many years I served as a<br />

Chief, officer suicide was a “Hot<br />

Topic” that was often discussed<br />

among other Chiefs, Sheriffs and<br />

Constables. To be fair, no chief<br />

administrator wants any officer<br />

or deputy under their command,<br />

to be suicidal or to follow thru<br />

with the actual act of committing<br />

suicide.<br />

That being said, there’s a real<br />

problem or quandary for supervisors<br />

and administrators in Law<br />

Enforcement. If an officer asks<br />

for mental health assistance and,<br />

in the course of that assistance,<br />

they indicate they are experiencing<br />

depression or thoughts of<br />

suicide, the department is IMME-<br />

DIATELY notified of this statement.<br />

Unfortunately, the context of the<br />

session(s) is protected by doctor/<br />

patient confidentiality, leaving<br />

departments to make decisions<br />

based on partial knowledge of<br />

the situation.<br />

The unfortunate outcome is<br />

how these departments respond<br />

to these notifications. If an officer<br />

comes forward and says I’m<br />

in dire straits (<strong>No</strong>, not the Band)<br />

they are subject to immediate<br />

suspension, may be relived from<br />

duty and even terminated. Unfortunately,<br />

all of these responses<br />

are negative producers and only<br />

exasperate the crisis in which the<br />

Officer was already facing and<br />

fighting.<br />

As I mentioned earlier, police<br />

work is extremely hard on the<br />

heart, mind and soul. Considering<br />

what an officer encounters on a<br />

daily basis, they are just expected<br />

to suck it up and endure. To think<br />

officers can continue to do this<br />

day-in and day-out without any<br />

type of mental health support is<br />

short sighted, at best. At worst<br />

it’s insensitive, irresponsible and<br />

sure to cause a tragic result. One<br />

which, no one wanted in the first<br />

place. Yet, we see this perpetual<br />

cycle that’s never ending.<br />

The question then becomes,<br />

why? Why are Law Enforcement<br />

administrators responding to this<br />

terrible crisis with the same old<br />

responses? I personally believe<br />

the following:<br />

First, the “L” word. Liability.<br />

If a supervisor or administrator<br />

allows an officer that’s been<br />

identified as potentially depressed<br />

or suicidal, (that has at some<br />

point in therapy expressed they<br />

are depressed or suicidal) there<br />

is a perceived and very real sense<br />

of the department being liable<br />

for any action(s) the officer may<br />

take, as a direct result of their<br />

current state of Mental Health.<br />

Second, the stigma of “Something<br />

is wrong with them” or<br />

“They are just weak” is also very<br />

real. Such words can destroy an<br />

officer’s career. Even if the circumstances<br />

of the mental health<br />

crisis are perhaps “warranted,<br />

these “Stigmas” stick like glue<br />

to the employee and no one can<br />

ever seem to overcome such a<br />

“Tag” or “Label” affixed to them.<br />

Third, when some administrations<br />

and supervisors learn of a<br />

possible Mental Health Related<br />

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12 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 13


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR<br />

your thoughts<br />

SWIFT, SURE PUNISHMENT<br />

Two officers shot in NY. One<br />

killed. RIP my Brother in Blue.<br />

The mayor of NY was on TV saying<br />

it was us (the city) against<br />

the murderers. Well mayor you<br />

and your ilk brought this on by<br />

your inaction, ignorance, arrogance,<br />

and Leftist ideas. The only,<br />

and I mean the ONLY solution to<br />

crime is swift, sure punishment.<br />

Ignoring a class of crime, failing<br />

to prosecute criminals across the<br />

board, little or no bond amounts,<br />

and long date trials with minimal<br />

sentences all contributed<br />

to this shooting. Keep on with<br />

these same ideas and methods<br />

of crime and soon NYC will look<br />

like scene from the movie Escape<br />

from New York and they’ll<br />

have to call in Snake Plisskin to<br />

rescue the one honest citizen left<br />

there.<br />

JOHN HART<br />

SOMBER CUP OF COFFEE<br />

Truly, a quiet and somber cup<br />

of coffee, this morning. All these<br />

years in and, when weeks like<br />

this come around, you can’t help<br />

feel the weight of the badge,<br />

upon your heart.<br />

Especially when, the Mourning<br />

Badge Cover drapes across<br />

the very badge you wear. It is, a<br />

stark reminder of just how fragile<br />

your life, can in fact be.<br />

I cannot fathom ever doing<br />

anything else in or with my life.<br />

Being a Cop has always been a<br />

privilege, to me. To have stood<br />

shoulder to shoulder with some<br />

of the finest people who’ve ever<br />

walked upon the Earth and to<br />

ever wear a badge, has been an<br />

absolute honor.<br />

Tragically, some of those truly<br />

amazing, brilliant lives were<br />

violently taken or otherwise lost,<br />

in the Line of Duty. Yet, so long<br />

as their remains life inside me,<br />

I’ll forever do everything I can to<br />

help keep their memories, alive.<br />

As for the coffee, well, it certainly<br />

doesn’t hurt. Try to make<br />

it as good of a morning as you<br />

possibly can. One thing I’ve<br />

learned the hard way, this morning<br />

and every morning is, a gift<br />

and, an absolute privilege. For<br />

there’s no “Guarantee” we’ll see<br />

another one.<br />

(On a lighter note…When inside<br />

the Courthouse, it’s mask on<br />

time. So, don’t be like me. Don’t<br />

be “That guy”. Remember to pull<br />

the mask down or off, before<br />

that first sip.)<br />

REX EVANS<br />

COP KILLER ROSALES<br />

I don’t make it a habit to show<br />

the picture or name of ruthless,<br />

violent suspects on my page.<br />

I don’t believe cruel, calloced<br />

individuals like you, deserve the<br />

attention.<br />

That being said, for you, I’m<br />

making an exception…<br />

Oscar Rosales. Cop Killer and,<br />

on the run. Of course you’re on<br />

the run. That’s what cowards like<br />

you who ambush good men, like<br />

Corporal Charles Galloway do.<br />

I’ll never truly understand why<br />

some , like you, feel that it’s ok<br />

to be so ruthless, violent and<br />

hateful. Your lack of decency and<br />

common humanity, might define<br />

you as what some might call, a<br />

sociopath.<br />

Experience has taught me<br />

however, you’re not mentally<br />

impaired. <strong>No</strong>t at all. You’re just<br />

a coward who hides behind a<br />

gun and ambushes your victims.<br />

Murdering the innocent.<br />

You probably don’t care but,<br />

you took the life of a really good<br />

man. You hurt a lot of innocent<br />

people, in the process. His family,<br />

his friends the entire community,<br />

in fact.<br />

The pain your ruthless act<br />

has caused is, immeasurable.<br />

The tragic loss you’ve caused,<br />

the brilliant life you so violently<br />

took, none of it can ever be<br />

replaced. <strong>No</strong>thing you so deliberately<br />

and violently took, could<br />

ever be given back.<br />

I sincerely pray you’re found<br />

quickly and decisively. I sincerely<br />

pray the high cost of what you’ve<br />

done, weighs heavily upon you,<br />

forevermore.<br />

Just remember, you took a<br />

good man’s life, for no other reason<br />

than, he was doing his job.<br />

He was serving and protecting<br />

our community. That man, was<br />

the kind of man whom others<br />

could and should always look up<br />

to and strive to be.<br />

Corporal Galloway lost his life,<br />

trying to keep the kind of pure<br />

evil you represent from, the<br />

good and innocent people who,<br />

call Harris County, Home.<br />

In time, Justice ALWAYS finds<br />

its way unto the wretched , ruthless<br />

and violent likes of you…it’s<br />

just a matter of time.<br />

REX EVANS<br />

HARD HITS, KEEP COMING<br />

The hard hits, keep coming.<br />

I’ll freely admit, with tears in<br />

my eyes, I am crushed with yet<br />

another tremendous loss for our<br />

Texas and Harris County Law Enforcement<br />

Community.<br />

This morning we’re learning<br />

about the tragic passing of, Harris<br />

County Sheriff’s Office Sergeant<br />

Ramon Gutierrez.<br />

Ramon was working an extra-job<br />

with his law enforcement<br />

motorcycle for a roadway<br />

project. At the time he was<br />

struck, Ramon had dismounted<br />

his motor to further assist the<br />

project personnel.<br />

For those of us who knew the<br />

man, nothing about what Ramon<br />

was doing, comes as a surprise.<br />

Ramon was a hard worker. In<br />

fact, he always was. He worked<br />

tirelessly, to be a great Law Enforcement<br />

Officer and later in his<br />

career, an absolutely outstanding<br />

Law Enforcement Leader.<br />

Few and far between are such<br />

men, like he. From his first day in<br />

the Patrol Bureau, Ramon never<br />

shied away from that next call.<br />

He never failed to work over<br />

when needed. He never failed<br />

to help his fellow Deputies and<br />

citizens alike.<br />

More importantly though, I<br />

cannot express to you enough,<br />

he never, ever failed to be, a<br />

good friend. Ramon, (tears here)<br />

never failed to greet me with a<br />

grin and a hearty hand shake<br />

and an embrace.<br />

When I say this man was, one<br />

of the finest men I have ever<br />

known in my career and in my<br />

lifetime, I simply cannot express<br />

enough, just how good of a man,<br />

he was.<br />

Today is, January 24th. And,<br />

Ramon becomes the 24th Law<br />

Enforcement Officer to lose his<br />

life, in the Line of Duty. And, the<br />

fourth Texas Law Enforcement<br />

Officer to have lost his life in<br />

the service of the citizens of this<br />

great State and Harris County.<br />

<strong>No</strong> one, ever signs up for this<br />

job to lose their life. Quite the<br />

opposite, we sign up to save<br />

lives and enhance the quality of<br />

life in the communities we serve.<br />

That being said, great men like<br />

Ramon, know this single Truth<br />

from behind their Badge. Should<br />

our life be called upon for the<br />

life of another, so shall it be. It<br />

is, a solemn obligation we all<br />

never talk about but, sincerely<br />

know and abide by.<br />

I’ve always been grateful and<br />

proud to call Ramon, my friend.<br />

He was, one of best and finest<br />

men I have ever had the privilege<br />

of knowing and at one time,<br />

serve with. His life and his legacy<br />

will be deeply missed.<br />

Where he set the bar, will be<br />

hard to ever reach. For he excelled<br />

at working hard, being a<br />

model Law Enforcement Leader,<br />

a Husband, a Father and, a<br />

Friend.<br />

This is one man who, just cannot<br />

be replaced. He was just that<br />

good. But, he can be forevermore<br />

remembered, honored, respected<br />

and loved.<br />

Once again, in so few days<br />

time, I find myself saying;<br />

“Rest easy now, Brother. We’ll<br />

take it from here. God’s speed<br />

and God bless…”.<br />

KENTUCKY STATE POLICE<br />

Trooper Casey Caudill serves<br />

as Post 7 Richmond. He received<br />

the lifesaving award during the<br />

2021 Sworn Awards.<br />

On a Monday afternoon, Trooper<br />

Casey Caudill traveled southbound<br />

on KY-627 Boonesboro<br />

Road in Clark County. Traffic was<br />

congested, so he activated his<br />

emergency lights to investigate<br />

the cause.<br />

Trooper Caudill reached a<br />

sheriff’s cruiser stopped in the<br />

middle of the road. As he approached,<br />

the deputy was lying<br />

on the ground next to the cruiser.<br />

His pulse was weak, and eventually,<br />

he became unresponsive<br />

and stopped breathing. Trooper<br />

Caudill did CPR until EMS arrived.<br />

Emergency room staff<br />

commended Trooper Caudill’s<br />

action and said his immediate<br />

medical care helped save his life.<br />

Please join us in thanking him<br />

for his service and dedication to<br />

the commonwealth.<br />

PRAYER FOR MY BROTHERS<br />

Heavenly Father, Today, I want<br />

to pray for Your blessings and<br />

favor on my family, my friends<br />

and for anyone who may be<br />

struggling or going through hard<br />

times, and in need of a miracle.<br />

Father, give them the assurance<br />

today that You are right there<br />

with them through every storm<br />

in their life. Let them know that<br />

You are always listening to their<br />

prayers, the One who can turn<br />

things around to be in their favor.<br />

Remind them, that it is many<br />

times in the darkest hour that<br />

You show up, and pour out Your<br />

blessings. Give them strength,<br />

hope, and peace today as the<br />

Holy Spirit leads their way. In<br />

Jesus name I pray, amen...<br />

ALLEN FRENCH<br />

SEND YOUR LETTERS<br />

& COMMENTS TO:<br />

bluespdmag@gmail.com<br />

14 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 15


AROUND THE COUNTRY<br />

3 HPD OFFICERS<br />

SHOT, ARE OK<br />

Insane Shootout Captured on Video, Officers<br />

Hit with Automatic Gunfire. Suspect Captured.<br />

By Michael Barron, Publisher<br />

HOUSTON – What started as<br />

a call to a family disturbance,<br />

turned into a bizarre shootout<br />

with a suspect, three wounded<br />

officers, a carjacking, and ended<br />

with a barricaded suspect<br />

who hours later was arrested by<br />

SWAT officers.<br />

The entire incident began<br />

when HPD officers received a<br />

disturbance call in the 1500<br />

block of Tralle Street around<br />

2:20pm on Thursday, January<br />

27th. When they arrived, the suspect<br />

Roland Caballero took off in<br />

a Dodge Charger and the officers<br />

initiated a chase. That chase<br />

ended at in the 2100 block of<br />

McGowen and St. Emanual when<br />

the suspect failed to negotiate<br />

the turn and crashed into a fence<br />

on McGowen.<br />

Caballero opened the driver’s<br />

door and immediately began<br />

firing an automatic weapon at<br />

the arriving officers. Video of the<br />

incident was captured on a Nest<br />

Video Cam across the street and<br />

quickly sold to local TV station<br />

ABC 13 who began playing it live<br />

within minutes of the shooting.<br />

The two officers in the HPD<br />

vehicle immediately exited the<br />

car and ran for cover while<br />

Caballero laid down a barrage<br />

of bullets. Investigators later<br />

found close to 100 bullets and<br />

shell casings at the scene and<br />

recovered a modified Glock from<br />

inside the Charger.<br />

Arriving officers returned fire<br />

and Caballero was able to exit<br />

the vehicle on the passenger<br />

side and ran East on McGowen.<br />

He then car-jacked a woman in<br />

a white Mercedes on Hutchins<br />

and drove to a house in the 1800<br />

Block of Lockwood. Caballero<br />

continued to fire rounds at the<br />

arriving officers, but thankfully<br />

none was injured.<br />

Officer’s setup a perimeter<br />

around the house and after several<br />

hours, the standoff ended<br />

at 7:45 pm when the suspect<br />

Caballero surrendered to SWAT<br />

officers. Caballero was transported<br />

to a hospital for a gunshot<br />

to the neck.<br />

In a press conference at Hermann<br />

Hospital, HPD Chief Troy<br />

Finner advised that the three<br />

officers were being treated for<br />

non-life-threatening injuries.<br />

“One shot in the arm, one shot in<br />

the foot and the third officer was<br />

shot in the leg.<br />

The officers, who are all expected<br />

to recover, are Officer N.<br />

Gadson, 35, who has been with<br />

HPD for four years, Officer D.<br />

Hayden, 32, who’s been with the<br />

force for three years, and Officer<br />

A. Alvarez, 28, who’s been a<br />

Houston police officer for two<br />

years. All of them work out of<br />

northeast patrol, according to<br />

the Houston Police Department.<br />

Considering the barrage of bullets<br />

fired at the officers, it’s truly<br />

a miracle they weren’t killed or<br />

seriously injured. God was truly<br />

watching over these officers.<br />

The suspect, Roland Caballero<br />

is another piece of garbage that<br />

should have been in prison for<br />

life, not free to race through our<br />

streets and fire illegal weapons<br />

at police.<br />

In fact, according to court documents,<br />

Caballero was caught<br />

stealing several expensive items<br />

from West Point Auto Collision<br />

on Glenwood just last month.<br />

An employee told police when<br />

he arrived at work on Dec. 28, he<br />

saw Caballero carrying three vehicle<br />

scanners,<br />

which are used<br />

to diagnose<br />

mechanical<br />

issues. He said<br />

he recognized<br />

Caballero as a<br />

customer.<br />

The employee<br />

said when<br />

he confronted<br />

Caballero,<br />

the suspect<br />

threw one of<br />

the scanners<br />

at him, pulled<br />

out a gun and threatened to start<br />

shooting. The employee told police<br />

he backed off and Caballero<br />

drove away with the scanners.<br />

Two customers told police a<br />

similar story and confirmed they<br />

saw Caballero take other items,<br />

according to court documents.<br />

The auto shop owner later told<br />

investigators that Caballero was<br />

angry because his food truck<br />

hadn’t been repaired yet. He said<br />

the scanners were worth $6,000<br />

apiece and Caballero also stole<br />

a Breitling watch worth $10,000<br />

and a 1951 Gibson guitar worth<br />

$7,000. Surveillance cameras<br />

showed Caballero carrying<br />

the items out and returning for<br />

more, according to court documents.<br />

Records show Caballero was<br />

convicted of aggravated assault<br />

in 2010, a weapons charge in<br />

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CLICK ON PHOTO TO WATCH VIDEO<br />

CLICK ON PHOTO TO WATCH VIDEO<br />

2014 and a drug charge in 2017.<br />

Based on his history as a<br />

“habitual felon,” prosecutors<br />

asked the judge to deny bond for<br />

Caballero on the recent robbery<br />

case in Katy. It’s not clear if he<br />

had been arrested in that case.<br />

The judge(s) that let this piece<br />

of crap out repeatedly, need to<br />

be voted out of office.<br />

The takeaway from this incident,<br />

for every officer on the<br />

streets in America, is to now<br />

expect that EVERY encounter<br />

you have with anyone could turn<br />

deadly in seconds. The game has<br />

changed for LE everywhere. For<br />

a hundred bucks in a back alley<br />

or on the dark web, you can buy<br />

a plastic adapter to turn any<br />

Glock into a machine gun pistol<br />

firing 100 rounds per second.<br />

Your only defense is to always<br />

have good cover. Be constantly<br />

thinking, if this guy opens-up,<br />

where can I go to be safe and<br />

return fire.<br />

I thank our Heavenly Father for<br />

watching over these officers yesterday<br />

and know they are going<br />

home to their families.<br />

Finally, watch these videos and<br />

learn from them. Be prepared for<br />

when this happens in your town<br />

or your watch.<br />

BE SAFE.<br />

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AROUND THE COUNTRY<br />

TRAGIC ENDING<br />

DEPUTY AMANDA “MANDI” CROWDER<br />

Harris County Deputy, Mom of two, dies of self-inflicted gunshot.<br />

HOUSTON, TX – 33 year old Harris<br />

County Deputy has died in what appears<br />

to be a self-inflicted gunshot<br />

wound.<br />

The Harris County Sheriff’s Office<br />

has announced that Deputy Amanda<br />

“Mandi” Crowder died on January<br />

17th after allegedly shooting herself.<br />

The shooting happened after<br />

Crowder, who was off duty, had left<br />

a bar with her boyfriend.<br />

The Houston Police Department,<br />

the agency who is working the<br />

investigation, reported that Crowder<br />

and her boyfriend had left the Kung<br />

Fu Saloon on Washington Avenue<br />

when they began to argue.<br />

Crowder’s boyfriend, who was<br />

not identified, reported that as they<br />

drove down the street, he heard a<br />

gunshot.<br />

When the boyfriend looked over,<br />

he noticed Crowder with a self-inflicted<br />

gun shot wound to her head.<br />

The couple happened to be near a<br />

Fire Station when the incident happened,<br />

and the boyfriend pulled in<br />

to get assistance.<br />

Crowder was transported from<br />

the scene to the Memorial Hermann-Texas<br />

Medical Center where<br />

she was first listed in critical condition.<br />

Sadly, after a few hours of<br />

fighting for her life, Crowder succumbed<br />

to her wounds.<br />

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez<br />

announced Crowder’s passing on<br />

Twitter:<br />

“Our hearts<br />

are heavy and<br />

filled with sadness<br />

over the<br />

death of HCSO<br />

Deputy Amanda<br />

Crowder (33).<br />

Please continue<br />

to keep the<br />

HCSO, the family<br />

and friends of<br />

Deputy Crowder<br />

in your prayers.”<br />

The Houston<br />

Police Department<br />

is continuing<br />

their<br />

investigation<br />

to determine if<br />

Crowder’s boyfriend,<br />

a Houston<br />

Firefighter, is<br />

being accurate<br />

in his depiction<br />

of how she was<br />

shot.<br />

At this point,<br />

all accounts received thus far<br />

are indicating that the death was<br />

caused by suicide.<br />

A friend of the family created a<br />

GoFundMe to raise funds for the funeral<br />

expenses as well as financial<br />

support for the two daughters she<br />

has left behind. The post said:<br />

“As you all know by now, we have<br />

lost a dear, beautiful friend way too<br />

soon. For everyone that knew Amanda<br />

“Mandi” Crowder, knew that her<br />

radiant smile would brighten up the<br />

darkest of rooms, and her laughter<br />

would add cheer to our worst days.<br />

Her love for her friends, family and<br />

two beautiful daughters were what<br />

mattered to her the most. She was<br />

known as the friend who would drop<br />

everything to help a friend out at a<br />

moments notice and never ask for<br />

anything in return.”<br />

20 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 21


AROUND THE COUNTRY<br />

BRUTAL MURDER<br />

HARRIS COUNTY CORPORAL CHARLES GALLOWAY<br />

Was shot and killed during a traffic stop. He never made it out of his vehicle.<br />

HOUSTON, TX – A constable in<br />

Harris County Texas died after being<br />

shot during a traffic stop on<br />

January 23rd. The constable had<br />

been with Harris County Precinct<br />

5 for over a decade.<br />

Law enforcement in Harris<br />

County, Texas has started a large<br />

manhunt after yet another police<br />

officer was shot and killed in the<br />

line of duty. The fallen officer,<br />

Corporal Charles Galloway, died<br />

after being shot during a traffic<br />

stop just before 1 am.<br />

According to investigators, Corporal<br />

Galloway had stopped what<br />

is being described as a younger<br />

Hispanic male who was driving a<br />

white four door Toyota Avalon for<br />

an unknown reason.<br />

Houston Police Chief Troy Finner<br />

alleged witnesses in the area<br />

saw the traffic stop and the suspect<br />

exited the car before Corporal<br />

Galloway had a chance to get<br />

out of the patrol vehicle.<br />

Chief Finner alleged the suspect<br />

immediately started firing rounds<br />

toward Corporal Galloway and his<br />

vehicle with what he described as<br />

being some sort of assault-styled<br />

weapon. Chief Finner said:<br />

“He [the suspect] got out of his<br />

vehicle, immediately fired upon<br />

the deputy multiple times, striking<br />

him and then drove off.”<br />

Chief Finner noted that it did<br />

not appear that Corporal Galloway<br />

even had the opportunity to<br />

unholster his weapon before the<br />

shots were fired.<br />

Law enforcement and medics<br />

responded to the area and transported<br />

Corporal Galloway to the<br />

Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical<br />

Center where he succumbed<br />

to his injuries.<br />

Constable Ted Heap responded<br />

to the hospital and addressed the<br />

media after Corporal Galloway<br />

had died. He told the media and<br />

all listening:<br />

“This has got to stop.”<br />

The murder investigation will<br />

be handled by the Houston Police<br />

Department who has no doubt<br />

that they will bring the killer to<br />

justice. Chief Finner wanted the<br />

suspect to understand his best<br />

course of action is to surrender<br />

himself immediately. Chief Finner<br />

said:<br />

“A message to this suspect,<br />

the best thing you can do is turn<br />

yourself in peacefully.”<br />

Corporal Galloway’s murder<br />

comes only a few months after<br />

the agency lost another deputy,<br />

Harris County Constable Precinct<br />

4 Kareem Atkins. Deputy Atkins<br />

was shot to death after he and his<br />

partner were outside of a sports<br />

bar and were ambushed by a<br />

19-year-old man.<br />

That man was located and arrested<br />

in December and charged<br />

with capital murder in the case.<br />

Constable Heap commented on<br />

the loss his agency feels after the<br />

loss of both officers. He said:<br />

“These are not assaults, these<br />

are not attacks, these are brutal,<br />

brutal murders. We have to put<br />

an end to this. We cannot have<br />

people like this on our streets. I<br />

don’t want to raise my family, my<br />

grandchildren in a country where<br />

this type of crime is running rampant.”<br />

Constable Heap said that Corporal<br />

Galloway has left behind a<br />

sister and daughter. The 12-anda-half-year<br />

veteran was assigned<br />

to the midnight shift so that he<br />

could help the agency with being<br />

a field training officer.<br />

Because Corporal Galloway was<br />

a field training officer, his loss<br />

personally affects more deputies<br />

than normal as he trained a good<br />

portion of them. He said:<br />

“There are a lot of very broken<br />

up officers who [Galloway] meant<br />

a lot in their lives because he was<br />

the one sitting in the front seat<br />

with them. He was the one who<br />

was teaching them what to do<br />

and how to get home safely to<br />

their families.”<br />

A True American Hero<br />

22 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 23


24 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 25


‘ENOUGH IS ENOUGH” CLICK HERE TO WATCH<br />

CONSTABLE TED HEAP DELIVER MOVING EULOGY<br />

26 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 27<br />

26 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 27


AROUND THE COUNTRY<br />

TRAGIC ACCIDENT<br />

TEXAS DPS SPECIAL AGENT ANTHONY SALAS<br />

EAGLE PASS, Texas (CBSDFW.<br />

COM/AP) — A Texas Department<br />

of Public Safety officer has died<br />

after being involved in a single<br />

vehicle traffic accident near the<br />

U.S.-Mexico border.<br />

Special Agent Anthony Salas<br />

was working with the U.S. Border<br />

Patrol, helping transport six<br />

individuals who had illegally<br />

immigrated to the country, when<br />

the accident happened on January<br />

22 near Eagle Pass, according<br />

to U.S. Customs and Border<br />

Protection.<br />

Salas was initially taken to a<br />

hospital in Eagle Pass and then<br />

transported to University Hospital<br />

in San Antonio, about 140<br />

miles northeast. Salas, 37, died<br />

Saturday morning, the Texas Department<br />

of Public Safety said in<br />

a statement.<br />

“This tragedy is a somber reminder<br />

of the selfless sacrifices<br />

our law enforcement make as<br />

they work to keep us safe,” Gov.<br />

Greg Abbott said in a statement.<br />

Salas, who joined the department<br />

in 2013, had been stationed<br />

in El Paso. He served as a trooper<br />

with the Texas Highway Patrol<br />

before being promoted to a special<br />

agent in the department’s<br />

Criminal Investigations Division.<br />

He was a<br />

member<br />

of the DPS<br />

West Texas<br />

Special<br />

Response<br />

Team.<br />

The Texas<br />

agency and<br />

Customs<br />

and Border<br />

Protection’s<br />

Office of<br />

Professional<br />

Responsibility<br />

are investigating<br />

the<br />

accident.<br />

Special<br />

Agent Salas<br />

was a U.S.<br />

Marine Corps<br />

veteran.<br />

28 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 29


AROUND THE COUNTRY<br />

VIDOR OFFICER CHRIS<br />

BERRY DIES OF COVID<br />

Officer<br />

Christopher Wayne Berry<br />

Vidor Police Dept., Vidor Texas<br />

End of Watch Tuesday, January 25, 2022<br />

Christopher Wayne Berry was a keeper of the peace, a defender of the weak and meek, a kind spirit to the world. He<br />

was born June 19, 1967 at Orange Memorial Hospital. His End of Watch was January 25, <strong>2022.</strong> He attended Lorena Oates<br />

Elementary, Orangefield Middle School, & graduated from Orangefield High School in 1985. He graduated Lamar University<br />

with a degree in criminal justice. He served & protected the communities of Jefferson County, Newton County,<br />

Pinehurst & Vidor over a thirty-year career in law enforcement. He is survived by his loving & devoted wife Brenda,<br />

his daughter Bailey and her fiancé Andrew, & his son Brayden, and Amber, a bonus daughter through Brenda, as well<br />

as his parents, <strong>No</strong>rman & Loretta Berry. Chris is survived by his three brothers: Mike & his wife Jill, Stephen & his wife<br />

Laura, & Michael & his wife Nandita; nieces Meghan & Madeleine, as well as nephews Michael Anthony, Crockett, and<br />

Michael T; and more dear, true friends, than a man could ever hope to have, especially his beloved sisters & brothers in<br />

blue. A public visitation will occur at Claybar Funeral Home in Orange between 1-2p Saturday, January 29, followed by<br />

a celebration of life service at 2:30pm. His brothers in blue will lead the ceremonial procession to Orange Forest Lawn<br />

Cemetery.<br />

VIDOR — The Vidor Police<br />

Department has received confirmation<br />

from the Jefferson<br />

County Medical Examiner’s<br />

Office that Officer Chris Berry’s<br />

death is Covid related. His death<br />

will be treated as a Line of Duty<br />

Death under HB 541. (Enacted by<br />

the Texas Legislature in 2021)<br />

Chris was inseparable from his wife Brenda, the love of his life. She was his friend, confidante, fellow traveler, and<br />

Berry was escorted from the<br />

soulmate. Our entire family is grateful he had her. Chris was a father to Bailey and Brayden. Bailey’s impending wedding<br />

had Chris bursting with pride, but also nervous about his walk down the aisle with her on his arm. He adored her. His<br />

Jefferson County Medical Examiner’s<br />

Officer on Highway 69 in<br />

University, a frequent boast for his father. Brayden describes his dad as “tough, for my own good.” He wanted Brayden<br />

son Brayden is in so many ways just like his dad. Focused, intent, thoughtful. He is attending Chris’s alma mater, Lamar<br />

Beaumont to the Claybar Funeral<br />

Home in Orange at 9:00 a.m.<br />

to grow up strong, just as he did, and Brayden is well on his way.<br />

on Thursday, January 27, <strong>2022.</strong><br />

Chris was a son to his parents, <strong>No</strong>rman and Loretta, in the same ways he was an officer to his community. Always<br />

The procession exited IH-10 at<br />

there, eager to serve, the rock to lean on. Every child loves their parent, but Chris showed so much. Even into adulthood,<br />

Main Street to honor the citizens<br />

of Vidor that Officer Berry<br />

now in his 50s, Chris demonstrated it with action every single day.<br />

He considered himself the unpaid additional producer of the Michael Berry Show, which he was, but he was much<br />

served. The procession also<br />

more than that. His wry wit, as well as his retelling of everyday stories in a way that elevates them to pure comedic art,<br />

exited IH-10 at FM 1136 to honor<br />

has been shared on the radio with millions over the years, usually with attribution but often, says Michael, “I’d just tell<br />

his family before proceeding to<br />

people I said that, but it was always Chris.”<br />

the funeral home.<br />

Officer Berry was recovering<br />

from a Covid related illness<br />

session, gardening. Visitors to the home the night of his passing noted that potted key lime trees and lemon trees were<br />

Chris was passionate about the great outdoors, from huntin’ to fishin’ to his latest hobby, beekeeping, as well as his ob-<br />

filling the living room to keep them out of the unusually cold outside that day. He loved planting, feeding, and fussing<br />

when his wife found his body<br />

over fruit trees and their yield, as well as vegetables straight from the soil, flowers, and all living things. A special<br />

Tuesday evening at their home.<br />

place in his heart over the past few years was reserved for his constant companion, his dog, Newt.<br />

Officer Berry was a 30 year<br />

law enforcement veteran who<br />

Chris didn’t see being an officer as merely enforcing the law, but instead as helping people. It’s all he ever wanted to<br />

had served the Jefferson County<br />

do, and he did it in every aspect of his life. He was a community servant, never failing to help a person in need, always<br />

Sheriff’s Office, Pinehurst Police<br />

seeking out opportunities to assist, to provide, to solve problems, to calm tensions, to bring a smile, and most of all, to<br />

Department, Newton County<br />

deliver that magical medicine of laughter. He was funny, and fun.<br />

Sheriff’s Office and most recently<br />

the Vidor Police Department.<br />

and a public persona. Even a murder suspect who led him on a long chase, upon apprehension and after being handed<br />

He will be missed by everyone who knew him, and that is a lot over 30 years as a peace officer with a big personality<br />

Officer Berry joined the Vidor<br />

off to booking, told other officers that Chris was kind and respectful to him throughout. That was Chris. Professional,<br />

Police Department in August<br />

trusted, admired. He will be missed by a family that loved him, and relied on him daily. He will be missed by the Thin<br />

2021.<br />

Blue Line that he wanted to join from childhood and to which he gave his entire adult life’s energy. He will be missed,<br />

and he will always be remembered.<br />

30 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 31


AROUND THE COUNTRY<br />

The widow of slain 22-year-old NYPD Detective Jason Rivera<br />

delivered a heart-wrenching eulogy Friday morning during her<br />

husband’s funeral. Here is the full text...<br />

I would say good morning to you all. But in fact, this is the<br />

worst morning ever. I can’t believe I’m standing in front of thousands<br />

of people in the cathedral we planned to visit later this<br />

2-NYPD OFFICERS<br />

year. All of this seems so unreal. Like I’m having one of those<br />

nightmares that you never thought you’d have.<br />

Friday morning, we were together eating breakfast and drinking<br />

some Starbucks. Eating was probably our favorite hobby.<br />

Maybe that’s why we gained those extra pounds. Friday morning<br />

Killed Responding to a Family Disturbance<br />

began just like every other morning before work. You were always<br />

my big spoon, watching Netflix, YouTube law enforcement<br />

shorts, read me your emails and wait for your mom to come<br />

home. You packed your book bag because we had to leave before<br />

HARLEM, NY – Two New York<br />

2 and really, before 2 sharp because of your NCO sergeant.<br />

Police Officers are dead after<br />

having been shot in Harlem<br />

You would drive me home and say goodbye with three kisses,<br />

all the time, and texted me when you were eighty-four. That was<br />

our routine. At around 15:00, 15:15, I received a BRB roll-call text<br />

while investigating a domestic<br />

and throughout our day told me about your jobs until it was EOT.<br />

violence call. The first officer that<br />

This Friday was different. We had an argument; you know it’s<br />

died was only 22 years old and<br />

hard being a cop’s wife sometimes. It’s hard being patient when<br />

his partner was 27.<br />

plans were canceled or we would go days without seeing each<br />

other or when you’d have to write a report that would take forever<br />

because you’d have to voucher so many things, so you did<br />

On January 22nd, NYPD Officers<br />

Jason Rivera, Wilbert Mora,<br />

OT. Or when you had a bad day at work because an EDP drove<br />

and an unidentified third officer<br />

responded to an apartment<br />

This Friday, we were arguing because I didn’t want you to use your job phone while we were together. You were so mad<br />

you nuts, but you always reminded me that it was going to be all right, that we were going to get through it.<br />

on 135th Street after a woman<br />

that you took your LeBron jersey down, gave me your chain and put the lotions I gave you for your ashy hands in the bag and<br />

called them for assistance with<br />

said, ‘Here, take them.’ We left your apartment and because I didn’t want to continue to argue, I ordered an Uber. You asked<br />

me if you are sure ‘that you don’t want me to take you home, it might be the last ride I give you.’ I said no and that was probably<br />

the biggest mistake I ever made.<br />

her 47 year old son, Lashawn<br />

McNeil.<br />

Later that day, I received the call I wish none of you that are sitting here with me will ever receive. I had gotten a notification<br />

from the Citizen app, which was my central. And I saw that two police officers were shot in Harlem. My heart dropped.<br />

When officers arrived on scene,<br />

the unnamed officer stayed with NYPD OFFICER JASON RIVERA NYPD OFFICER WILBERT MORA<br />

I immediately texted you and asked you, ‘Are you okay? Please tell me you’re okay. I know that you’re mad right now but just<br />

the woman and spoke to her<br />

32ND PRECINCT<br />

32ND PRECINCT<br />

text me, you’re okay, at least tell me you’re busy.’ I get no response. We used to share locations on Find My iPhone and when I<br />

about the incident as Officers END OF WATCH: 1/23/2022 END OF WATCH: 1/25/2022<br />

checked yours, I see that you’re at Harlem Hospital. I thought maybe you were sitting on a perp but still, nothing.<br />

Rivera and Mora went down a juries he sustained while Officer<br />

I called and then called again and then called one more time and this time, I felt something wasn’t right. I messaged PO Kadavid<br />

and Joe because I know they were your friends from the 32 and I get no response. Then I get a call asking if I’m Jason’s<br />

tragedy we are enduring. We’re<br />

narrow hallway to the apartment Mora was transported to a nearby mourning, and we’re angry.”<br />

wife. And then I had to rush to the hospital.<br />

where McNeil was located. hospital died on two days later. Mayor Adams weighed in on the<br />

Walking all those steps seeing everybody staring at me was the scariest moment I’ve experienced. <strong>No</strong>body was telling me<br />

New York Police Department McNeil was also transported to tragic event on Twitter:<br />

anything. Dozens of people were surrounding me and yet I felt alone. I couldn’t believe you left me. Seeing you in a hospital<br />

Chief of Detectives, James Essig,<br />

a hospital where he was listed in “I lost my fellow officers in<br />

bed wrapped up in sheets, not hearing you when I was talking to you broke me up.<br />

reported that as the officers critical condition.<br />

the line of duty. I remember my<br />

I asked why. I said to you, ‘Wake up, baby, I’m here.’ The little bit of hope I had that you would come back to life just to say<br />

goodbye or say ‘I love you’ one more time has left. I was lost. I’m still lost. Today I’m still in this nightmare that I wish I never<br />

neared a bedroom, McNeil swung Democratic New York Mayor mother’s fear for her sons when<br />

had. Full of rage and anger, hurt and sad. Torn.<br />

the door open and opened fire. Eric Adams, a retired NYPD Captain,<br />

and newly appointed NYPD “Tonight, we lost a 22-year-old<br />

beside me telling me I can do this. And I’m trying, trust me I am. I didn’t prepare for this. <strong>No</strong>ne of us did.<br />

we went to work every day.<br />

Although I gained thousands of blue brothers and sisters, I’m the loneliest without you. I know you’re looking at me and<br />

Both officers were struck in the<br />

hail of gunfire while the third Commissioner Keechant Sewell, son, husband and police officer.<br />

Jason and I met in elementary school. All the way up to eighth grade, we had the time of our lives. He was part of the cool<br />

officer ran to assist.<br />

were at the hospital when the Another is fighting for his life.<br />

kid’s crew. There was never a dull moment with him around. He was the class clown, got me in trouble a couple of times,<br />

As the third officer got close, critically wounded officer passed “Our hearts go out to their families.”<br />

had our teachers sit us away from each other because we couldn’t focus.<br />

We never thought that our innocent childhood love would lead us to marriage. Even when we said, ‘I do,’ we couldn’t believe<br />

we said it. October 9 was the happiest day of our lives. I know I drove you crazy saying ‘I love you’ so many times that<br />

they were able to stop him before<br />

he escaped. At some point “Countless officers lined this “This week alone, four of our<br />

you would stop replying, ‘I love you more.’ But you made me feel alive. You make me feel alive.<br />

away. Commissioner Sewell said:<br />

while attempting to stop McNeil’s hallway after carrying him in officers have been shot and an<br />

Jason is so happy right now that all of you are here. Through pain and sorrow, this is exactly how he would have wanted to<br />

escape, the officer opened fire, and grieve for their brother while eleven month old baby was shot.<br />

be remembered. Like a true hero. Or like I used to call him, Big Peel Rivera.<br />

striking him twice, once in the praying with everything they have “This isn’t just an attack on the<br />

You have the whole nation on gridlock. And although you won’t be here anymore, I want you to live through me. The system<br />

head and the other in the arm. for the other. I am struggling NYPD. It’s an attack on New York<br />

continues to fail us. We are not safe anymore, not even the members of the service. I know you were tired of these laws,<br />

especially the ones from the new DA, I hope he’s watching you speak through me right now.<br />

Officer Rivera died from the in-<br />

to find the words to express the City.”<br />

I’m sure all of our blue family is tired too, but I promise, we promise that your death won’t be in vain. I love you until the<br />

32 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE<br />

end of time. We’ll take the watch from here<br />

The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 33


AROUND THE COUNTRY<br />

TICKETS via TEXT<br />

Traffic tickets via text? One Texas city is trying it out A pilot program<br />

hopes to reduce the potential for traffic stops to turn dangerous.<br />

By Mariah Rush<br />

The Charlotte Observer<br />

WINDCREST, Texas — In one Texas<br />

city, a program is trying to end a<br />

common occurrence that has led<br />

to tension and violence between<br />

police officers and motorists across<br />

the country.<br />

The Trusted Driver Program,<br />

which will be piloted out of Windcrest,<br />

hopes to help eliminate the<br />

ability for minor traffic stops to turn<br />

violent and improve trust between<br />

law enforcement and drivers.<br />

With the new program, police officers<br />

will be able to send motorists<br />

tickets via text instead of pulling<br />

them over.<br />

“It’s not a 100% solution, but it’s a<br />

step forward in the right direction,”<br />

said Val Garcia, president and CEO<br />

of the Trusted Driver Program.<br />

Garcia, a former San Antonio police<br />

officer, hopes the program will<br />

be successful.<br />

“If we minimize those interactions<br />

just for minor traffic violations,<br />

they have more time to dedicate to<br />

serious crime like DWI’s that are on<br />

the road, reckless drivers, racing,”<br />

Garcia told the news outlet.<br />

Garcia says sometimes a traffic<br />

stop is necessary, but other times it<br />

isn’t.<br />

“I saw many incidents where<br />

officers got themselves in trouble<br />

because they initiated a traffic<br />

stop,” he told WOAI. “And maybe<br />

there was not enough cause for it<br />

or there’s not a reason for it, or they<br />

just couldn’t back down from it<br />

after the stop occurred.”<br />

According to a 2021 report from<br />

The New York Times, police officers<br />

have killed more than 400 drivers<br />

or vehicle passengers who were<br />

unarmed and not suspected of a<br />

violent crime.<br />

The program hopes to decrease<br />

these “potentially dangerous encounters.”<br />

“By minimizing interactions between<br />

the police and the public, we<br />

create a more inclusive approach<br />

to public safety and community-based<br />

policing, while treating<br />

all with respect, compassion and<br />

fairness,” the website says.<br />

Drivers have to sign up for the<br />

program, which launched on Jan. 15<br />

in Windcrest, for officers to not pull<br />

them over for minor traffic offenses.<br />

First, motorists sign up online,<br />

and if an officer scans their license<br />

plate, they will see the driver in the<br />

Trusted Driver system and text them<br />

a warning or citation if it applies.<br />

You can also share on your Trusted<br />

Driver profile if you have any<br />

conditions or disabilities that should<br />

be noted.<br />

“If you’re deaf, if you have PTSD,<br />

autism, a medical condition like<br />

diabetes or a physical disability but<br />

you’re still allowed to drive,” Garcia<br />

told KIII-TV. “It really gives an officer<br />

information faster in the field to<br />

handle a traffic stop if it does occur<br />

and be able to deescalate.”<br />

If drivers want to contest the ticket,<br />

they can handle it online instead<br />

of in court.<br />

National Police Week 5K<br />

Honoring our own<br />

The 16th annual National Police Week 5K is Saturday, May 14, 2022<br />

Join us for our global event uniting thousands of law enforcement<br />

officers and their supporters to remember our fallen heroes. After<br />

the deadliest year in law enforcement history, the Officer Down<br />

Memorial Page (ODMP) and Concerns of Police Survivors need<br />

your continued support.<br />

For more information go to nationalpoliceweek5k.com or contact<br />

Amy Herrera at 5k@odmp.org.<br />

34 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 35


AROUND THE COUNTRY<br />

HOU. COUNCIL MEMBERS<br />

Hold Judges Granting Felony Bonds Accountable<br />

Michael Kubosh, Houston City Council Member At-Large Position 3, has taken unprecedented<br />

steps to hold judges accountable for granting several felony bonds to repeat violent offenders.<br />

HOUSTON - FOX 26 Houston’s<br />

series Breaking Bond has one<br />

Houston city council member<br />

taking unprecedented steps to<br />

stop Criminal District Judges<br />

from releasing violent offenders<br />

“The public is not going to<br />

stand for this anymore, and<br />

they’re going to have to answer<br />

for what they’ve done when<br />

there’s 156 people murdered on<br />

their watch,” said Michael Kubosh<br />

Houston City Councilmember At-<br />

Large Position 3.<br />

Kubosh might not be able to<br />

stop Criminal District Court<br />

Judges from releasing violent<br />

offenders back out onto the<br />

streets, but he is going to make<br />

them nervous.<br />

“We have to give them a strong<br />

message they can’t do this anymore<br />

without the public getting<br />

involved,” he said. “Filing a Judicial<br />

Bar grievance will get their<br />

attention trust me.”<br />

Most elected officials in Harris<br />

County won’t even acknowledge<br />

what we’ve been keeping track<br />

of for more than a year.<br />

At least 156 Harris County residents<br />

have been killed allegedly<br />

at the hands of repeat violent offenders<br />

free from jail on multiple<br />

felony or personal recognizance<br />

bonds.<br />

In addition to reading the<br />

names of the 156 killed some 4th<br />

Ward pastors prayed for them<br />

and their families on Friday, Kubosh<br />

is making an unprecedented<br />

move.<br />

He’s filing Judicial Bar Grievances<br />

against all Criminal District<br />

Court Judges accusing them<br />

of not considering public safety<br />

when setting bonds or granting<br />

multiple bonds to defendants<br />

who rack up even more criminal<br />

charges.<br />

“I think their peers will say the<br />

same thing I’m saying,” Kubosh<br />

said. “We need to sanction these<br />

judges and teach them a lesson<br />

not to ever do this again.”<br />

IS PROUD<br />

TO SUPPORT<br />

Sergeant Majorie Jordan of the Jersey City Police Department abandoned her position of cover<br />

and ran out into the open to help one of her officers that was shot in the shoulder. She assisted<br />

him to his feet and got him to safety, all while taking heavy gunfire. This right here, is a leader.<br />

Thank you Sergeant Jordan.<br />

CONGRATULATIONS<br />

& WELCOME TO THE<br />

HOUSTON CITY COUNCIL<br />

get your<br />

FREE SUBSCRIPTION<br />

to The BLUES, scan the<br />

QR code or click here.<br />

FOR HOUSTON CITY COUNCIL<br />

36 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 37


AROUND THE COUNTRY<br />

ONLYFANS EXTRA JOB<br />

Colorado deputy with OnlyFans page retires with $30,000 settlement.<br />

By Rob Low,<br />

Nexstar Media Wire<br />

ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo.<br />

(KDVR) — A former sheriff’s deputy<br />

in Colorado has retired with<br />

a $30,000 separation agreement<br />

rather than face an internal affairs<br />

investigation for her Only-<br />

Fans page.<br />

Melissa Williams still operates<br />

her OnlyFans page, which allows<br />

online subscribers to pay $10 a<br />

month to see her pose naked or<br />

partially naked and engage in sex<br />

acts with her husband. She spent<br />

28 years in law enforcement, including<br />

her last 11 years with the<br />

Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office,<br />

where she was most recently<br />

assigned to the detention center<br />

as a lieutenant.<br />

“I was a really good cop. I was<br />

a really good cop, and I was a<br />

really good leader,” the 48-yearold<br />

Williams said in an interview<br />

with KDVR.<br />

Williams said she never posed<br />

in her uniform or identified<br />

herself as a deputy and said it<br />

never occurred to her the sheriff’s<br />

department might find her page<br />

inappropriate.<br />

“I never did because I was doing<br />

it off-duty and it was never anything<br />

criminal,” she said.<br />

Williams said there were no<br />

issues with her OnlyFans page for<br />

the first 18 months.<br />

But eventually,<br />

co-workers found<br />

out and a female<br />

officer from a<br />

neighboring police<br />

department filed a<br />

complaint with the<br />

Arapahoe County<br />

Sheriff’s Office. In<br />

the Aug. 5 complaint,<br />

she stated<br />

that she felt the<br />

lieutenant’s “poor<br />

judgment was a<br />

discredit to the<br />

Arapahoe County<br />

Sheriff’s Office.”<br />

“I was like, this<br />

doesn’t even affect<br />

the person that reported it. It<br />

doesn’t affect my work, it doesn’t<br />

affect my employees, it doesn’t<br />

affect the community,” Williams<br />

said.<br />

But the sheriff’s office took the<br />

complaint seriously. In a memo<br />

obtained by KDVR, an internal<br />

affairs inspector wrote, “The<br />

website contained pictures of<br />

Lt. Williams posing for pictures<br />

clearly showing her face and her<br />

genitals, one or more of the photos<br />

appear to have been taken in<br />

a very public location.”<br />

“I think some people viewed<br />

as what I did for fun, as being a<br />

sex worker, but I’m the same as<br />

someone else’s neighbor, their<br />

friend, mom, daughter. I’m still<br />

the same person I was for the 18<br />

months the page existed and nobody<br />

knew,” Williams said.<br />

“There are a lot of things that<br />

are legal that someone might<br />

disapprove of,” said Don Mayer, a<br />

professor of business ethics and<br />

legal studies at the University of<br />

Denver.<br />

He said Colorado has a law<br />

called the “Lawful Off-Duty Activity<br />

Statute” that protects employees<br />

from being fired for what<br />

they do in their personal time as<br />

long as they’re not breaking any<br />

laws.<br />

“I don’t think there’s a strong<br />

argument that what she did was<br />

unlawful,” Mayer said.<br />

But a spokesman for Sheriff<br />

Tyler Brown said the agency felt<br />

Williams should have sought<br />

permission for secondary employment,<br />

just like any deputy<br />

who works security at a bar or a<br />

football game is required to do.<br />

“<strong>No</strong>, because it really doesn’t<br />

generate employment income<br />

and there are a lot of individuals<br />

throughout the metro area who<br />

have what could be considered<br />

secondary employment, but it<br />

isn’t something that gets claimed<br />

or gets reported,” she said.<br />

Williams declined to say how<br />

much money her OnlyFans page<br />

has earned her but acknowledged<br />

she has more than 300<br />

subscribers. She said she decided<br />

to accept a $30,000 separation<br />

and release agreement<br />

in <strong>No</strong>vember to retire from the<br />

sheriff’s department, partly<br />

because she was convinced the<br />

department was going to terminate<br />

her if she didn’t.<br />

“I did not leave out of shame,<br />

and I did not leave out of embarrassment<br />

for the OnlyFans page.<br />

I left because it was the right<br />

thing for myself and my family,<br />

and honestly, the OnlyFans piece<br />

was just one part of it,” Williams<br />

said.<br />

Sheriff Brown declined to discuss<br />

the Williams case, but his<br />

spokesperson told KDVR in an<br />

email:<br />

“As far as the secondary employment,<br />

our policy does not<br />

explicitly mention OnlyFans or<br />

similar web hosting platforms;<br />

however, the policy does cover<br />

secondary employment that may<br />

negatively affect a member’s<br />

performance of their regular<br />

assigned duties, or which likely<br />

would bring the Sheriff’s Office<br />

into disrepute. In light of the<br />

nature of OnlyFans platforms, the<br />

Sheriff has interpreted our policy<br />

to mean that anyone having such<br />

a website or page as a second<br />

job would need to notify the<br />

Sheriff and obtain his approval<br />

before pursuing such an undertaking.”<br />

“The Arapahoe County Sheriff’s<br />

Office began an investigation into<br />

Ms. Williams after receiving a<br />

complaint from a member of the<br />

public alleging that Ms. Williams<br />

was posing on a pornographic<br />

website and, in doing so, was<br />

bringing discredit to the Sheriff’s<br />

Office. Prior to the completion of<br />

that investigation, Ms. Williams<br />

sought to negotiate a severance<br />

and elected to resign her employment.<br />

Ms. Williams was not<br />

fired, nor was she forced to leave<br />

the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s<br />

Office. Ms. Williams’ allegations<br />

appear to be nothing more than<br />

an effort to manufacture a ‘newsworthy’<br />

story to drive traffic to<br />

her website.”<br />

<strong>38</strong> The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 39


AROUND THE COUNTRY<br />

TN DEPUTY KILLED<br />

Robertson County Sheriff Deputy found shot<br />

inside her burning house suspect arrested.<br />

SPRINGFIELD, TN – A suspect<br />

is in custody and faces charges<br />

including first-degree murder<br />

after a Robertson County Sheriff’s<br />

Office deputy was found was<br />

found dead on January 23rd in her<br />

burning home.<br />

Deputy Savanna Puckett, a fouryear<br />

department veteran, was<br />

found dead with a gunshot wound<br />

inside her burning home Sunday<br />

night, the sheriff’s office reported.<br />

She was 22.<br />

James Jackson Conn, 27, is<br />

charged with one count of<br />

first-degree murder and one count<br />

of aggravated arson in connection<br />

to Puckett’s slaying, the Tennessee<br />

Bureau of Investigation said.<br />

Conn, who lives in Smyrna, was<br />

arrested at his Odom Court home<br />

about 11:30 a.m. Monday after an<br />

hourslong standoff that stemmed<br />

from the execution of a search<br />

warrant, TBI said.<br />

Conn was acquaintance of<br />

Puckett, according to TBI. He was<br />

booked into the Robertson County<br />

Jail late Monday afternoon where<br />

he was being held without bond.<br />

“The investigation remains active<br />

and ongoing, and we’ll provide<br />

more details as soon as we’re able<br />

to do so,” said a representative<br />

of the Robertson County Sheriff’s<br />

Office.<br />

Another deputy<br />

went to check on<br />

Puckett around 5<br />

p.m. Sunday when<br />

she did not report<br />

for her shift and<br />

found her home<br />

in the 5100 block<br />

of Highway 41 in<br />

Springfield engulfed<br />

in flames, an RSCO<br />

release said.<br />

The deputy was<br />

not able to make it<br />

inside due to the extent<br />

of the fire. Once<br />

firefighters arrived,<br />

they found Puckett<br />

inside.<br />

Puckett had<br />

multiple gunshot<br />

wounds, including<br />

ones to her head<br />

and torso, an arrest<br />

affidavit for Conn showed. Two<br />

empty lighter fluid bottles were<br />

found in Puckett’s home with fingerprints<br />

matched to Conn.<br />

A .40 caliber cartridge casing<br />

was also found, the affidavit<br />

stated. Puckett’s .40 caliber service<br />

weapon was not found at the<br />

scene.<br />

“Words cannot express the<br />

sadness and grief that Savanna’s<br />

family and her sheriff’s office family<br />

are facing right now,” Sheriff<br />

Michael Van Dyke said in a statement.<br />

“This is a tragedy that we<br />

are processing minute by minute.<br />

Please keep Savanna, her family<br />

and the sheriff’s office in your<br />

thoughts and prayers.”<br />

It was not immediately clear if<br />

the gunshot wounds or the fire<br />

caused Puckett’s death. The cause<br />

and origin of the fire remained<br />

under investigation Monday.<br />

ACEVEDO SUES MIAMI<br />

Former Miami PD Chief Art Acevedo claims his public firing three<br />

months ago was in retaliation for him speaking out against corruption.<br />

By Adriana Gomez<br />

Associated Press<br />

MIAMI — The embattled former<br />

police chief of Miami is suing<br />

his former employer and city<br />

commissioners, saying his public<br />

firing three months ago was<br />

in retaliation for him speaking<br />

out against corruption.<br />

Art Acevedo had a six-month<br />

tenure and was suspended and<br />

then fired after three raucous<br />

meetings, in which he says he<br />

was “purposefully humiliated”<br />

and fired for reporting abuses of<br />

power by elected officials.<br />

The complaint was filed<br />

Wednesday in federal court<br />

against the city of Miami, its city<br />

manager Art <strong>No</strong>riega and three<br />

city commissioners.<br />

The lawsuit says a memo sent<br />

to the mayor and city manager<br />

accusing several commissioners<br />

of hampering his reform and<br />

meddling in the police department<br />

should have been protected<br />

by the First Amendment,<br />

but instead cost him his job. It<br />

says his firing was in violation<br />

of Florida Whistle-blower’s<br />

Act, which protects employees<br />

against retaliatory actions for<br />

reporting abuses of power.<br />

The complaint says that Acevedo<br />

was concerned two commissioners<br />

were trying to send<br />

police for code enforcement to<br />

specific bars<br />

and restaurants<br />

owned by a<br />

man who had<br />

supported a<br />

political opponent.<br />

He attempted<br />

“to push back<br />

on attempts by<br />

certain City of<br />

Miami Commissioners<br />

to<br />

use the men,<br />

women, and<br />

resources of the<br />

MPD to carry<br />

out their personal<br />

agendas and use the (Miami<br />

Police Department) as their<br />

puppet,” the complaint states.<br />

It includes details about the<br />

first public meeting to discuss<br />

Acevedo’s tenure, when commissioners<br />

played videos of him<br />

impersonating Elvis Presley in<br />

a white jumpsuit dancing the<br />

“Jailhouse Rock” at a fundraiser<br />

previous to his Miami post. They<br />

“attempted to humiliate him,”<br />

the complaint states.<br />

The city of Miami did not immediately<br />

respond to requests<br />

for comment.<br />

Acevedo was recruited by Miami<br />

Mayor Francis Suarez. At the<br />

time, he was touted as a progressive<br />

law enforcer who had<br />

headed the police department<br />

in Houston and shared ancestry<br />

with hundreds of thousands Cubans<br />

in Miami as a Havana-born<br />

refugee.<br />

But Acevedo began making<br />

waves almost immediately after<br />

he started in the post last April<br />

by taking over internal affairs<br />

and making significant changes<br />

to his command staff. He demoted<br />

four majors and fired two<br />

high-level police officials — a<br />

married couple — because they<br />

weren’t truthful about a crash<br />

involving a city-issued SUV.<br />

40 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 41


AROUND THE COUNTRY<br />

Preparing to react to 10 difficult<br />

experiences in law enforcement.<br />

Thinking about these experiences will better prepare you to choose<br />

a physical and emotional response when you inevitably face them.<br />

By Lt. Dan Marcou<br />

Police officers share many difficult<br />

experiences in their career,<br />

unique to their profession, but<br />

not each other. Each officer can<br />

choose to respond positively or<br />

negatively to each difficult experience.<br />

As someone who has<br />

experienced a full career and<br />

managed to enjoy it immensely,<br />

I would like to share my reaction<br />

to some of these shared experiences.<br />

You may not choose to react<br />

the way I did, but that is not the<br />

point of this article. Thinking<br />

about these experiences will<br />

better prepare you to choose a<br />

physical and emotional response<br />

when you inevitably face them.<br />

Here are a few shared experiences<br />

and my chosen reactions:<br />

Experience 1: After you save<br />

someone from an overdose, the<br />

person is angry with you because<br />

either their high was ruined, or<br />

they were cheated out of death.<br />

Reaction: I decided that nothing<br />

a person did or said could<br />

ever diminish the personal thrill<br />

and appreciation of the fact that<br />

I just saved another human life. I<br />

didn’t go home thinking, “I saved<br />

a life and the person treated<br />

me badly.” Instead, I went home<br />

thinking, “I saved a life. Cool!”<br />

Experience 2: A victim is<br />

rescued from an act of domestic<br />

violence and as their partner<br />

is being handcuffed the rescued<br />

person jumps on your back.<br />

Reaction: When this attack<br />

happened to me, I instantly<br />

shoulder-shucked the victim,<br />

sending her toppling. This disoriented<br />

her long enough so I could<br />

finish handcuffing her partner. I<br />

followed up by arresting her as<br />

well for the attack on my person.<br />

In subsequent domestics, I<br />

learned to position the suspect<br />

for arrest away from the rest of<br />

the family when possible. If not<br />

possible, during the arrest I positioned<br />

myself so as to be able<br />

to maintain a visual of the victim<br />

throughout the arrest.<br />

I came to understand and eventually<br />

was taught the complicated<br />

dynamics of domestic violence,<br />

and this made me better<br />

at dealing with these incidents<br />

criminally, tactically and emotionally.<br />

Experience 3: While in a<br />

police line at riots the chants become<br />

vile and directed at you.<br />

Reaction: It helped greatly that<br />

our team trained extensively for<br />

our riots before they occurred.<br />

That training included having<br />

a mock crowd yell everything<br />

imaginable. We learned to act<br />

as if we were the palace guard,<br />

seeming to ignore the chants<br />

that may or may not have risen<br />

to the level of probable cause.<br />

Meanwhile assigned officers<br />

taped people and the things<br />

they did. When that beautifully<br />

magic moment arrived where<br />

the existence of probable cause<br />

converged with the opportunity<br />

to arrest one or more of these<br />

agitators, we did so quickly and<br />

efficiently as a team, stunning<br />

them and the crowd.<br />

In conjunction with the recordings,<br />

describing the words said<br />

and dirty deeds done led to convictions.<br />

This resulted in great<br />

satisfaction in a job well done.<br />

You see, frozen water bottles and<br />

stones will break my bones, but<br />

words will never hurt me.<br />

Experience 4: A missing juvenile<br />

is taken into custody from a<br />

terrible environment and transported<br />

back to what appears<br />

to be a nice home. At the next<br />

night’s line-up, the same runaway<br />

is reported missing again.<br />

Reaction: I learned to use multiple<br />

contacts to show compassion<br />

and caring toward these kids<br />

while establishing rapport.<br />

While doing so I was able to<br />

work these questions into the<br />

conversations asking: “What is<br />

happening at home?” and “How<br />

do you get by on the run?” The<br />

responses triggered by these<br />

questions often resulted in arrests<br />

of other parties for everything<br />

from auto theft to burglary<br />

and from abuse to drug and sex<br />

trafficking.<br />

Experience 5: You take a<br />

suicidal person into protective<br />

custody, and they are almost immediately<br />

released by the doctor.<br />

That person then dies by suicide.<br />

Reaction: The way I processed<br />

this was to tell myself, “You<br />

saved him/her when it was your<br />

turn to save them. The later suicide<br />

was out of my control.”<br />

Experience 6: You arrest a<br />

person with a serious criminal<br />

record over and over again, but<br />

they are released over and over<br />

again seemingly with no repercussions.<br />

Reaction: This is easy. We<br />

only had one DA like this who<br />

was a governor-appointed party<br />

animal. He was in no way as<br />

complicit in crime as some of<br />

the DAs today. Still, our union<br />

discussed this matter and we<br />

decided to openly get behind a<br />

well-respected assistant in the<br />

office. The man we supported<br />

for district attorney won and<br />

went on to serve honorably. He<br />

also went on to retire after a<br />

long career as a well-respected<br />

circuit court judge.<br />

Additionally, while the<br />

sub-standard DA was failing to<br />

perform his job, we never as officers<br />

let that stop us from doing<br />

our jobs as police officers.<br />

Experience 7: You take a<br />

homicidal person into custody<br />

and shortly thereafter they are<br />

released, after which they kill<br />

someone.<br />

Reaction: This result proved<br />

that when my partners and I<br />

made the apprehension, it probably<br />

saved lives. The deaths could<br />

not be my emotional burden to<br />

bear, but as in the case of the<br />

suicide, it was for someone else<br />

to contemplate.<br />

Experience 8: You become a<br />

police officer to protect all people<br />

and you are called a racist.<br />

Reaction: This terrible insult<br />

has always been thrown at officers<br />

and when thrown at me I<br />

felt comfort in realizing that for<br />

someone to make that judgment<br />

about me without knowing me<br />

revealed them to be the true bigot.<br />

<strong>No</strong>rmally I would ignore the<br />

insult and just put it in my report.<br />

However, on occasion, after<br />

making an arrest, a suspect<br />

would say, “You arrested me just<br />

42 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 43


ecause I am ___________.”<br />

I would respond politely, “<strong>No</strong><br />

sir. I would have arrested you<br />

even if you were green because<br />

it is against the law to run out of<br />

a restaurant without paying for<br />

your supper and you know that.”<br />

(One actual example.)<br />

After a pause, I would continue,<br />

“So save that line for someone<br />

who it may work on. How<br />

about we get along from here on<br />

out. I’m Dan. You can call me Dan<br />

if you like.”<br />

This approach worked often for<br />

me but not always since some<br />

people will neither change their<br />

perspective nor accept responsibility<br />

for their actions.<br />

Experience 9: You testify to<br />

the truth, the whole truth and<br />

nothing but the truth and know<br />

it, and the defense’s entire case<br />

is built on accusing you of being<br />

a liar.<br />

Reaction: I learned to stay in<br />

the courtroom for only my testimony<br />

unless the district attorney<br />

insisted. This cut down on the<br />

number of times I had to listen<br />

to liars calling me a liar.<br />

In time, by always telling the<br />

truth, even when it might hurt<br />

my case, people learned to trust<br />

my word. I came to realize that<br />

defense attorneys were just doing<br />

their jobs when occasionally<br />

one would approach me afterward<br />

and shake my hand stating,<br />

“Sorry, Dan. I was just doing my<br />

job.”<br />

Experience 10: You have a<br />

shift where you answer a call,<br />

and someone has been killed<br />

accidentally, deliberately, or has<br />

died of natural causes.<br />

Reaction: After scene stabilization,<br />

I would do everything in<br />

my power to prevent the death or<br />

more deaths. When the situation<br />

was calm, or shortly thereafter,<br />

I would say a silent prayer for<br />

the soul of the departed. I am<br />

convinced this simple, secret,<br />

spiritual act kept me from ever<br />

experiencing any emotional after-effects<br />

from these tragic and<br />

at times horrific incidents. Once<br />

in a while I drive past the scene<br />

of an event and remember, and<br />

when I do, I repeat the prayer. It<br />

has always brought me peace.<br />

SOME LAST BITS OF SHARING<br />

These few experiences are just<br />

the tip of the iceberg, for there<br />

will be some shifts where you<br />

witness scenes of treachery,<br />

violence, dysfunction, death and<br />

even carnage. Each one of those<br />

events will require you to first<br />

respond effectively as a police<br />

officer, and later process them in<br />

a healthy way as you decompress<br />

from work.<br />

After each difficult shift, I<br />

aggressively reminded myself<br />

to appreciate what I have and<br />

hold onto my positive attitude at<br />

home, which is the real me, like<br />

an emotional life raft. Staying<br />

positive about a life facing such<br />

negativity is a discipline, just like<br />

brushing your teeth or exercising.<br />

It is difficult, but it will pay off in<br />

the long run; believe me.<br />

Police work is a unique profession<br />

where you are immersed<br />

in negativity. That immersion<br />

can turn you into a truly negative<br />

person, or it can make<br />

you recognize, as amazing, the<br />

incredible contrasts in your own<br />

life, when you beat the negativity<br />

at home. You can even gain<br />

the perspective that allows you<br />

to appreciate the difficult experiences<br />

you are privileged to<br />

have as a result of this extremely<br />

interesting career.<br />

You can’t always choose what<br />

you experience in your career.<br />

However, whether you react to<br />

those experiences positively or<br />

negatively is your choice.<br />

<strong>No</strong>w, as always, say safe, stay<br />

strong and stay positive, and be<br />

careful out there.<br />

About the author<br />

Lt. Dan Marcou is an internationally<br />

recognized police trainer<br />

who was a highly decorated police<br />

officer with 33 years of fulltime<br />

law enforcement experience.<br />

Marcou’s awards include Police<br />

Officer of the Year, SWAT Officer<br />

of the Year, Humanitarian of<br />

the Year and Domestic Violence<br />

Officer of the Year. Upon retiring,<br />

Lt. Marcou began writing. He is a<br />

co-author of “Street Survival II,<br />

Tactics for Deadly Encounters,”<br />

which is now available. His novels,<br />

“The Calling, the Making of a<br />

Veteran Cop,” “SWAT, Blue Knights<br />

in Black Armor,” “<strong>No</strong>body’s Heroes”<br />

and Destiny of Heroes,”<br />

as well as his latest non-fiction<br />

offering, “Law Dogs, Great Cops in<br />

American History,” are all available<br />

at Amazon. Dan is a member<br />

of the Police1 Editorial Advisory<br />

Board.<br />

Help us reach our<br />

goal of 100,000<br />

subscribers.<br />

It’s FREE.<br />

Just CLICK<br />

44 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 45


AROUND THE COUNTRY<br />

LIVESTREAM 911 CALLS<br />

DIRECTLY TO OFFICERS<br />

By Terry Ryan<br />

In emergency response, every<br />

second matters and law enforcement<br />

agencies are always<br />

striving to improve response<br />

times. <strong>No</strong>w, a new technology<br />

securely livestreams 911<br />

emergency calls directly to<br />

first responders, allowing them<br />

to obtain more information to<br />

make better-informed decisions,<br />

respond faster, and save<br />

people’s lives.<br />

THE PROBLEM<br />

While 911 call-takers are very<br />

fast in their ability to obtain information<br />

from callers, there is<br />

always a time lapse from when<br />

a 911 call is answered, the details<br />

are typed and entered into<br />

the CAD system, the dispatcher<br />

sends info to the radio operator,<br />

it is read, airtime becomes clear,<br />

and the call for service is broadcast.<br />

This process can take 90<br />

seconds to two minutes before<br />

an officer even becomes aware<br />

of a critical situation.<br />

Of course, time is not often on<br />

a first responder’s side and using<br />

technology to get a jump on<br />

response time would be advantageous.<br />

When an officer arrives<br />

at a situation that is potentially<br />

life or death, shaving off a<br />

minute or two of their response<br />

time could make all the difference.<br />

THE SOLUTION<br />

The vision for closing the gap<br />

between dispatchers and first<br />

responders by allowing officers<br />

in the field to hear incoming 911<br />

calls came from retired police<br />

Captain Fritz Reber. He introduced<br />

HigherGround to the<br />

concept, and we thought it was<br />

brilliant. He chose to partner<br />

with HigherGround since our<br />

team of engineers and product<br />

marketers have more than 20<br />

years of experience developing<br />

solution-based public safety<br />

software. The resulting solution<br />

is aptly called Live911.<br />

Here’s how it works. When a<br />

911 call comes in, Live911 sends<br />

it out simultaneously to first<br />

responders in the field. Officers<br />

hear it as it is happening. They<br />

can pre-set a geofence radius,<br />

so they only hear the calls near<br />

their current location.<br />

When a call is urgent, and<br />

they are free to assist, officers<br />

can see the location of the caller<br />

on a map and move in the direction<br />

of the incident—giving<br />

them a head start and allowing<br />

them to develop a response plan<br />

while driving to a call. All the<br />

while, first responders are hearing<br />

the interactions between the<br />

caller and the call-taker, including<br />

answers to questions, firsthand<br />

descriptions, emotional<br />

tones, and background noise on<br />

the scene.<br />

Hearing the calls has proven<br />

extremely helpful, but the<br />

ability to view precise GPS map<br />

location—within a couple of<br />

feet—where the caller is located<br />

can be equally valuable. Officers<br />

are able to look on the mapping<br />

feature and see exactly where<br />

the caller is standing and drive<br />

directly to that location without<br />

delay.<br />

An initial surprise to us, is that<br />

many of our clients continue<br />

to tell us Live911 has changed<br />

their officers’ perception of<br />

telecommunicators. Often officers<br />

express an elevated level of<br />

respect and even a new sense of<br />

protectiveness towards the dispatchers.<br />

<strong>No</strong>w that officers hear<br />

call-takers asking the appropriate<br />

questions and dealing with<br />

intense exchanges, they have<br />

gained a better understanding<br />

of the hard work they do on<br />

every call to ensure the officers’<br />

safety.<br />

Live911 livestreams the 911 call directly to the officer to improve response speed. In addition it<br />

gives officers the ability to view the precise GPS map location where the caller is located so officers<br />

can drive to that location without delay.<br />

RESULTS<br />

Live911 deployments are improving<br />

response times and<br />

increasing situational awareness<br />

in law enforcement agencies<br />

across America.<br />

The technology has contributed<br />

to the following success<br />

stories:<br />

Chula Vista, CA<br />

“One example of how livestreaming<br />

911 calls has changed<br />

officer response was during a<br />

recent call to report a drowning.<br />

The caller was understandably<br />

hysterical and could not provide<br />

an address. Officers heard the<br />

911 call and could see precisely<br />

where the caller was located<br />

and responded immediately,<br />

before the call was even dispatched.<br />

They saved that child’s<br />

life,” says Carla Evan, communications<br />

manager for the Chula<br />

Vista Police Department.<br />

Polk County, FL<br />

“In the first 30 days we saved<br />

three lives. We saved a child that<br />

was choking because we got<br />

there before fire or EMS. We also<br />

saved two people with our AED<br />

that were having cardiac arrests.<br />

Live911 is a remarkable tool that<br />

helps us to arrive at emergencies<br />

quicker. It’s a game changer,”<br />

says Polk County Sheriff Grady<br />

Judd.<br />

Clovis, CA<br />

“I heard the call of an 8-yearold<br />

reporting a domestic disturbance<br />

in progress. His father<br />

was beating his mother in front<br />

of him. “I was able to get on the<br />

scene before being dispatched.<br />

The victim told me she believed<br />

he would have killed her if we<br />

would not have shown up so<br />

quickly and arrested the suspect.<br />

Long story short, Live911 greatly<br />

reduced response time and I<br />

strongly believe it saved her life<br />

or at least prevented more injury,”<br />

says Officer Marcus Burks of the<br />

Clovis Police Department.<br />

Everyone wants well-informed<br />

first responders with a good<br />

understanding as to the type of<br />

situation they are going into. The<br />

more information and data that<br />

can be provided enhances their<br />

ability to de-escalate and resolve<br />

issues in the safest and most effective<br />

manner. There is no faster<br />

way to have immediate situational<br />

awareness on an incident<br />

than to hear the actual 911 call in<br />

real-time.<br />

Terry Ryan is the CEO of HigherGround.<br />

46 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 47


VOTE THEIR ASS OUT<br />

Nine judges who freed accused killers on low bonds AND need to go!<br />

The number of individuals murdered<br />

by felons nine specific state<br />

district judges released on low bonds<br />

or what amounts to a “Get Out of Jail<br />

Free” card has reached a crisis point.<br />

The judges – all first termers –<br />

seem to be in competition to see<br />

which one can release the most<br />

killers back on the streets so they can<br />

snuff out more innocent victims.<br />

Over the past three years in Harris<br />

County, 156 people have been killed<br />

by individuals charged with murder<br />

but turned loose after posting low<br />

bonds.<br />

“Fifty-eight of these defendants<br />

are charged with capital murder,”<br />

said Andy Kahan, director of victim’s<br />

services for Crime Stoppers. “Even<br />

more disturbing is over a dozen of the<br />

defendants on this list are actually<br />

out on bond again.<br />

“This has been one of the most interesting<br />

projects I have ever undertaken.”<br />

The record keeps getting worse.<br />

Of these 156 victims, two were<br />

police officers on duty while another<br />

was an off-duty New Orleans officer.<br />

HPOU PAC is using aggressive<br />

tactics to inform voters of this scary<br />

trend. The key steps are to identify<br />

the culprits and endorse their possible<br />

replacements, whether in the<br />

March primary or the <strong>No</strong>vember general<br />

election.<br />

One primary drawback is that Harris<br />

County voters don’t pay much attention<br />

to judicial candidates, making<br />

this a daunting task.<br />

A key step is – as one does in court<br />

– citing the record.<br />

Kahan compiled this judicial scoreboard<br />

over the last three years. Kahan<br />

and his non-partisan organization do<br />

not endorse candidates or take political<br />

positions. So, it should be carefully<br />

noted that these scary numbers<br />

were sorted by court identifiers and<br />

not by individual judges.<br />

Of course, elected judges are responsible<br />

for every decision in their<br />

court, even those made by magistrates<br />

or visiting judges.<br />

Besides identifying these wayward<br />

jurists by name, we will add the<br />

HPOU PAC’s endorsement in the upcoming<br />

election. These are all Democratic<br />

judges. Under the circumstances,<br />

this could mean that they have no<br />

primary opponent; thus, their only<br />

real opposition will be in <strong>No</strong>vember<br />

against a Republican challenger.<br />

And here’s the list:<br />

263RD DISTRICT JUDGE<br />

AMY MARTIN<br />

180TH DISTRICT JUDGE<br />

DASEAN JONES<br />

Freed six alleged killers on bond who<br />

are now charged with nine additional<br />

murders. HPOU PAC ENDORSEMENT:<br />

Tami Pierce in the Republican Primary.<br />

230TH DISTRICT JUDGE<br />

CHRIS MORTON<br />

182ND DISTRICT JUDGE<br />

DANIEL LACAYO<br />

Freed 11 defendants on bond, giving<br />

them the opportunity to kill nine other<br />

victims. HPOU PAC ENDORSEMENT: Rob<br />

Jackson (Retired HPD) in the Republican<br />

Primary.<br />

232ND DISTRICT JUDGE<br />

JOSH HILL<br />

184TH DISTRICT JUDGE<br />

ABIGAIL ANASTASIO<br />

Freed seven defendants out who<br />

went ahead and killed 10 more people.<br />

HPOU PAC ENDORSEMENT: Lori<br />

De Angelo in the Republican Primary.<br />

Katherine Thomas in the Democratic<br />

248TH DISTRICT JUDGE<br />

HILLARY UNGER<br />

208TH DISTRICT JUDGE<br />

GREG GLASS<br />

Freed five defendants who murdered<br />

nine others. HPOU PAC EN-<br />

DORSEMENT: Heather Hudson in the<br />

Republican Primary.<br />

262ND DISTRICT JUDGE<br />

LORI CHAMBERS GRAY<br />

Freed 10 defendants on bond who took Freed eight defendants on bond,<br />

Freed eight on low bonds, resulting Freed nine accused killers who are Freed 10 defendants now charged<br />

the lives of nine victims. HPOU PAC EN- seeing them commit seven additional in the opportunity to kill six additional now charged with seven additional with committing 11 murders after<br />

DORSEMENT: Amber Cox in the Republican<br />

murders. HPOU PAC ENDORSEMENT: Brad victims. HPOU PAC ENDORSEMENT: Josh-<br />

murders committed while back out posting bonds. HPOU PAC ENDORSE-<br />

Primary.<br />

Hart in the Republican Primary.<br />

ua <strong>No</strong>rman in the Republican Primary. on the streets. HPOU PAC ENDORSE- MENT: Tonya Mclaughlin in the Re-<br />

MENT: Julian Ramirez in the Republican<br />

publican Primary<br />

Primary<br />

48 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 49


Judge Glass and his abysmal<br />

record especially sticks in the<br />

craw of Houston police officers.<br />

For one of those nine murder<br />

victims who part of Glass’ low<br />

bond record was their colleague,<br />

Officer Bill Jeffrey, gunned down<br />

while serving a warrant. The<br />

name on the warrant was that of<br />

a wanton multiple felon Judge<br />

Glass let go free on bond despite<br />

his record.<br />

Makeshift Felony Bond Reform<br />

Kahan said, “Over 150 people<br />

have been killed by defendants<br />

released on multiple felony<br />

bonds, a felony PR bond Get Out<br />

of Jail Free or on bond and that<br />

you forfeited, meaning you were<br />

a fugitive.”<br />

In essence, Kahan opined, the<br />

state judges are implementing<br />

felony bail bond reform without<br />

any court-ordered mandate.<br />

Misdemeanor bail bond reform<br />

is a different story. A federal<br />

court ordered misdemeanor<br />

courts to release defendants on<br />

a PR or general order bond. “This<br />

removed bond companies from<br />

having misdemeanor clients,”<br />

Kahan explained. “We have no<br />

issue with that whatsoever.”<br />

It’s these felony courts that are<br />

turning loose violent offenders<br />

who haven’t had to pay that<br />

much to get out of jail.<br />

“There is no court order regarding<br />

felony bonds,” Kahan<br />

said. “Judges have implemented<br />

their own version of felony bond<br />

reform by allowing defendants<br />

to be released time and again.<br />

It’s totally discretionary what<br />

they’re doing.”<br />

Politically speaking, a strong<br />

prerequisite for being a fair<br />

criminal district judge in Harris<br />

County is experience as a prosecutor.<br />

It was somewhat surprising<br />

to learn that five of these<br />

nine elected judges have prosecutorial<br />

experience in the DA’s<br />

office. There are four who have<br />

only served on the defense side –<br />

Jones, Unger, Martin and Glass.<br />

Adding further scariness to this<br />

horrid situation is the fact that<br />

50 of the defendants in these<br />

low-bond releases are charged<br />

with capital murder!<br />

Time was at the Harris County<br />

Courthouse when criminal district<br />

judges regularly refused any<br />

bond for a capital murder defendant.<br />

<strong>No</strong>w it happens as regularly<br />

as a Metro schedule.<br />

<strong>No</strong>ne of the revelations emanating<br />

from Kahan’s research<br />

bring good news to police officers<br />

and others who merely<br />

want justice done right.<br />

The records show three of the<br />

murder victims were unborn<br />

babies.<br />

There are other interesting<br />

numbers in the compilation.<br />

Kahan found that of the 156<br />

victims killed by these low-bond<br />

recipients, 79 were black and 48<br />

Hispanic.<br />

“If you look at victims,” Kahan<br />

said, “most are people of color,<br />

yet no one says anything. It always<br />

disturbs me about the lack<br />

of outrage, particularly by public<br />

officials.<br />

“You would expect outrage<br />

about unborn children. And you<br />

would expect somebody to say<br />

something about the large number<br />

of black and Hispanic victims.<br />

“It always disturbed me how<br />

our local leaders have no issue<br />

talking about crimes throughout<br />

the country. But when it’s in your<br />

backyard it’s very rare you hear<br />

outrage.”<br />

Each of these judges in question<br />

were vaulted into office<br />

four years ago when incumbent<br />

President Donald Trump’s radical<br />

actions prompted a heavy Democratic<br />

turnout in the general<br />

election in Harris County.<br />

History shows that 51 of 53 of<br />

the last midterm elections in<br />

the nation’s third largest county<br />

have gone against the party<br />

whose candidate was occupying<br />

the White House. Only in 1934<br />

after President Franklin Roosevelt’s<br />

New Deal popularity did<br />

the Democrats maintain control<br />

of the county and in 2002 when<br />

President George W. Bush was<br />

displaying strong leadership<br />

after 911, resulting in Republicans<br />

occupying the majority of county<br />

offices, including judgeships.<br />

In 2014, with Democrat Barack<br />

Obama in the White House,<br />

Republicans swept the judicial<br />

elections in the county, the<br />

justices of the peace contests<br />

notwithstanding, while four<br />

years later Democrats swept the<br />

judicial elections.<br />

So, the trends would indicate<br />

Republican judicial candidates<br />

stand a better chance of winning<br />

this year than they did four years<br />

ago.<br />

Ray Hunt, HPOU executive director,<br />

echoes the sentiments of<br />

Andy Kahan, but also points out<br />

that “since only about 50 percent<br />

of murders are solved, I believe<br />

the 156 killed by turds out on<br />

bond is probably more like 300.”<br />

REPRINTED FROM THE HPOU<br />

BADGE & GUN. The BLUES supports<br />

the efforts of the HPOU.<br />

IN<br />

Harris County Judge<br />

LINA HIDALGO<br />

“You have blood on your hands... I’m calling on<br />

you three to resign from office so the healing can<br />

begin.” STEVE RADACK, at a recent CC Meeting.<br />

Then she made an ass out of herself at Corporal<br />

Charles Galloway’s Funeral.<br />

SHE HAS TO GO!<br />

CLICK HERE TO WATCH DORA MAKE AN ASS OUT OF HERSELF<br />

50 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 51


REMEMBERING THOSE WE’VE LOST<br />

Officers Lost Due to COVID in January 2022<br />

DALLAS POLICE OFFICER<br />

CHRISTOPHER GIBSON<br />

END OF WATCH: SUNDAY, JANUARY 2, 2022<br />

DEPORTATION OFFICER<br />

WILLIAM HAYES<br />

END OF WATCH: SUNDAY, JANUARY 3, 2022<br />

CURRY COUNTY DEPUTY SHERIFF<br />

BRYAN VANNATTA<br />

END OF WATCH: SUNDAY, JANUARY 3, 2022<br />

ENID POLICE OFFICER<br />

BART LANE ARNOLD<br />

END OF WATCH: SUNDAY, JANUARY 3, 2022<br />

CASA GRANDE POLICE OFFICER<br />

JESUS “CHUY” LARA<br />

END OF WATCH: SUNDAY, JANUARY 4, 2022<br />

NEWMAN POLICE OFFICER<br />

RICHARD LYNN TOSTENSON<br />

END OF WATCH: SUNDAY, JANUARY 6, 2022<br />

WILSON POLICE CAPTAIN<br />

REGINALD KAMAL SMITH<br />

END OF WATCH: SUNDAY, JANUARY 7, 2022<br />

WILL COUNTY DEPUTY SHERIFF<br />

MICHAEL QUEENEY<br />

END OF WATCH: SUNDAY, JANUARY 8, 2022<br />

MILLER COUNTY DETENTION SERGEANT<br />

JANELL L. VISSER<br />

END OF WATCH: SUNDAY, JANUARY 9, 2022<br />

PRAIRIE CITY CHIEF OF POLICE<br />

MICHAEL E. GERMAN<br />

END OF WATCH: SUNDAY, JANUARY 13, 2022<br />

52 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 53


REMEMBERING THOSE WE’VE LOST<br />

Officers Lost Due to COVID in January 2022<br />

MADISON COUNTY INVESTIGATOR<br />

STEVEN RAY FINLEY<br />

END OF WATCH: SUNDAY, JANUARY 14, 2022<br />

OSWEGO COUNTY CORRECTIONS OFFICER<br />

MELISSA M. FRANCE<br />

END OF WATCH: SUNDAY, JANUARY 17, 2022<br />

WAYNE COUNTY CORPORAL<br />

ERNEST M. ROBINSON<br />

END OF WATCH: SUNDAY, JANUARY 18, 2022<br />

JEFFERSON COLLEGE CHIEF OF POLICE<br />

DON RIFFE<br />

END OF WATCH: SUNDAY, JANUARY 20, 2022<br />

VIDOR POLICE OFFICER<br />

CHIRSTOPHER BERRY<br />

END OF WATCH: SUNDAY, JANUARY 25, 2022<br />

When one falls,<br />

We all fall.<br />

POLICE OFFICER<br />

FRANKLIN JOE<br />

END OF WATCH: TUESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2022<br />

54 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 55


REMEMBERING THOSE WE’VE LOST<br />

Lost in the Line of Duty<br />

Trooper John Sumter Horton<br />

<strong>No</strong>rth Carolina Highway Patrol, <strong>No</strong>rth Carolina<br />

End of Watch Monday, January 3, 2022<br />

Age 42 Tour 15 Years Badge # G-236<br />

Trooper John Horton was struck and killed by a patrol car while conducting a<br />

traffic stop near the intersection of High Shoals Church Road and Goodes Grove<br />

Church Road in Mooresboro at about 9:00 pm. Trooper Horton had detained the<br />

driver of the vehicle and was standing on the shoulder of the roadway with the<br />

subject. Another trooper arriving on the scene to back him up lost control of his<br />

patrol car and collided with Trooper Horton’s patrol car, which was then pushed<br />

into Trooper Horton and the detained subject. The detained subject died at the<br />

scene, and Trooper Horton died after being transported to a hospital in Spartanburg,<br />

South Carolina.<br />

Trooper Horton had served with the <strong>No</strong>rth Carolina Highway Patrol for 15 years.<br />

He is survived by his wife, six children, parents, sister, and two brothers.<br />

Police Officer Diane Gonzalez<br />

New Haven Police Department, Connecticut<br />

End of Watch Monday, January 10, 2022<br />

Age N/A Tour N/A Badge # N/A<br />

Police Officer Diane Gonzalez succumbed to injuries sustained on September<br />

10th, 2008, when her patrol car collided with another patrol car while responding<br />

to a domestic violence call. Her patrol car collided with Sergeant Scott Aponte’s<br />

patrol car at the intersection of East Street and Chapel Street as they both<br />

responded to the same call. Sergeant Aponte was killed in the crash, and Officer<br />

Gonzalez suffered a traumatic brain injury, causing her to slip into a coma. She<br />

remained in a coma until succumbing to her injuries.<br />

Officer Gonzalez had served with the New Haven Police Department for 13 years<br />

at the time of the crash. She is survived by her son, two daughters, and grandchildren.<br />

Police Officer II Fernando Arroyos<br />

Los Angeles Police Department, California<br />

End of Watch Monday, January 10, 2022<br />

Age 27 Tour 3 Years Badge # 4<strong>38</strong>35<br />

Police Officer Fernando Arroyos was shot and killed as he took police action<br />

when three men attempted to rob him in the 1700 block of East 87th Street.<br />

He and his girlfriend had stopped to look at a house that was for sale and were<br />

crossing the street when the three men got out of a vehicle and attempted to<br />

rob them at gunpoint. Officer Arroyo directed his girlfriend to safety as the men<br />

opened fire on him. He was able to return fire and shot one of the men before<br />

being mortally wounded. Officer Arroyos was taken to a local hospital where he<br />

succumbed to his wounds. Three men and one woman, all members or associates<br />

of the Florencia 13 gang, were charged federally with violating a federal<br />

racketeering statute in connection with Officer Arroyos’ murder.<br />

Officer Arroyos had served with the Los Angeles Police Department for three<br />

years and was assigned to the Olympic Division. He is survived by his mother<br />

and stepfather.<br />

Police Officer Corille Jones<br />

Memphis Police Department, Tennessee<br />

End of Watch Thursday, January 20, 2022<br />

Age 32 Tour 1 Year 11 Months Badge # N/A<br />

Police Officer CJ Jones was killed in a vehicle crash at the intersection of<br />

East Shelby Drive and Pleasant Hill Road at about 2:30 am. Officer Jones was<br />

responding to a call when another vehicle collided with his patrol car. The driver<br />

of the other car was killed in the crash. Officer Jones was transported to a local<br />

hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.<br />

Officer Jones had served with the Memphis Police Department for almost two<br />

years. He is survived by his two children.<br />

56 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 57


REMEMBERING THOSE WE’VE LOST<br />

Lost in the Line of Duty<br />

Police Officer Tyler Lenehan<br />

Elk Grove Police Department, California<br />

End of Watch Friday, January 21, 2022<br />

Age 44 Tour 9 Years Badge # 281 Veteran<br />

Police Officer Ty Lenehan was killed when his police motorcycle was struck<br />

head-on by a drunk driver on State Highway 99, near 12th Avenue, in Sacramento.<br />

The drunk driver was traveling in the wrong direction on the divided<br />

highway at about 5:15 am when he struck Officer Lenehan. The man was<br />

arrested by members of the California Highway Patrol as he attempted to walk<br />

away from the scene. The subject, who had at least one prior DUI arrest, was<br />

charged with felony DUI.<br />

Officer Lenehan was a U.S. Air Force veteran and had served with the Elk<br />

Grove Police Department for six years. He had previously served with the Citrus<br />

Heights Police Department for four years and the Galt Police Department for two<br />

years. Officer Lenehan is survived by his wife, who is an officer with the Sacramento<br />

Police Department, and two children.<br />

Police Officer Jason Rivera<br />

New York City Police Department, New York<br />

End of Watch Friday, January 21, 2022<br />

School Resource Officer Johnny Patterson<br />

Lee County School District Police Dept., Mississippi<br />

End of Watch Friday, January 21, 2022<br />

Age 58 Tour 28 Years Badge # N/A<br />

School Resource Officer Johnny Patterson succumbed to injuries sustained on<br />

January 13th, 2022, when he was struck by a car while directing traffic on <strong>No</strong>ah<br />

Curtis Street in front of Shannon Primary School. He was directing traffic at the<br />

end of the school day when a vehicle struck the back of his patrol car, which<br />

was then pushed into him. He was transported to <strong>No</strong>rth Mississippi Medical<br />

Center where he remained on life support until his organs were donated on<br />

January 21st, <strong>2022.</strong><br />

Officer Patterson also served as the assistant chief of the Verona Police Department<br />

and had served in law enforcement for 28 years. He is survived by his<br />

wife, two sons, and several grandchildren.<br />

Police Officer Wilbert Mora<br />

New York City Police Department, New York<br />

End of Watch Tuesday, January 25, 2022<br />

Age 22 Tour 1 Year 3 Months Badge # 257<strong>38</strong><br />

Age 27 Tour 4 Years Badge # 15918<br />

Police Officer Jason Rivera and Police Officer Wilbert Mora were shot and killed<br />

Police Officer Wilbert Mora and Police Officer Jason Rivera were shot and killed<br />

when they responded with a third officer to the report of a domestic dispute call<br />

when they responded with a third officer to the report of a domestic dispute call<br />

in an apartment at 119 West 135th Street in Harlem. When the officers arrived<br />

in an apartment at 119 West 135th Street in Harlem. Officer Rivera and Officer<br />

at the apartment about 6:30 pm, they spoke with the suspect’s mother. Officer<br />

Mora were transported to Harlem Hospital in grave condition. Officer Rivera<br />

Rivera and Officer Mora went to the rear of the apartment to interview the suspect<br />

succumbed to his wounds a short time later. Officer Mora died four days later.<br />

while the third officer stayed with the mother. As the officers approached<br />

the door to a bedroom the suspect was in, the suspect opened the door and immediately<br />

Officer Mora had served with the New York City Police Department for four years<br />

began to fire at the officers, striking Officer Rivera and Officer Mora.<br />

and was assigned to the 32nd Precinct.<br />

The third officer returned fire, killing the suspect.<br />

Officer Rivera had served with the New York City Police Department for just<br />

over a year and was assigned to the 32nd Precinct. He is survived by his wife of<br />

58 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE three months.<br />

The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 59


REMEMBERING THOSE WE’VE LOST<br />

Lost in the Line of Duty<br />

Special Agent Anthony Salas<br />

Texas Department of Public Safety -<br />

Criminal Investigations Division, Texas<br />

End of Watch Saturday, January 22, 2022<br />

Age 37 Tour 9 Years Badge # N/A<br />

Special Agent Anthony Salas was killed in an accident near Eagle Pass, Texas,<br />

while conducting joint tactical operations with the United States Border Patrol’s<br />

BORTAC unit. He was flown to University Hospital in San Antonio where he succumbed<br />

to his injuries the following day.<br />

Special Agent Salas was a U.S. Marine Corps veteran. He had served with the<br />

Texas Department of Public Safety for nine years and was assigned to the Special<br />

Operations Group.<br />

Corporal Charles Galloway<br />

Harris County Constable’s Office - Precinct 5, Texas<br />

End of Watch Sunday, January 23, 2022<br />

Age 47 Tour 12 years 6 Months Badge # N/A<br />

Corporal Charles Galloway was shot and killed while conducting a traffic stop in<br />

the 9100 block of Beechnut Street at about 12:45 am.<br />

The driver of the vehicle he stopped exited the car and opened fire, killing Corporal<br />

Galloway. The man then fled the scene in his car and remains at large.<br />

Corporal Galloway had served with the Harris County Constable’s Office - Precinct<br />

5 for 12 years. He is survived by his daughter and sisters.<br />

Sergeant Ramon Gutierrez<br />

Harris County Sheriff’s Office, Texas<br />

End of Watch Monday, January 24, 2022<br />

Age 45 Tour 20 Years Badge # N/A<br />

Sergeant Ramon Gutierrez was struck and killed by a drunk driver on the East<br />

Beltway feeder road near Tidwell Road at about 1:00 am. He was providing an<br />

escort for a permitted heavy load and was directing traffic while blocking an exit<br />

ramp. The woman drove around his police motorcycle and struck him before<br />

fleeing the scene. Another deputy stopped the woman a short distance away<br />

and placed her under arrest. She was charged with intoxication manslaughter<br />

of a police officer, failure to stop and render aid, and evading arrest/detention<br />

in a motor vehicle. Sergeant Gutierrez was flown to Memorial Hermann Hospital<br />

where he succumbed to his injuries.<br />

Sergeant Gutierrez had served with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office for 20<br />

years and was assigned to the Vehicular Crimes Division. He is survived by his<br />

wife and three children.<br />

Officer Chris Berry<br />

Vidor Police Department, Texas<br />

End of Watch Tuesday, January 25, 2022<br />

Age 55 Tour 30 Years Badge # N/A<br />

The Vidor Police Department has received confirmation from the Jefferson<br />

County Medical Examiner’s Office that Officer Chris Berry’s death is Covid related.<br />

His death will be treated as a Line of Duty Death under HB 541. (Enacted<br />

by the Texas Legislature in 2021)<br />

Officer Berry was recovering from a Covid related illness when his wife found<br />

his body Tuesday evening at their home.<br />

Officer Berry was a 30 year law enforcement veteran who had served the<br />

Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Pinehurst Police Department, Newton County<br />

Sheriff’s Office and most recently the Vidor Police Department. Officer Berry<br />

joined the Vidor Police Department in August 2021.<br />

60 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 61


REMEMBERING THOSE WE’VE LOST<br />

Lost in the Line of Duty<br />

Deputy Sheriff <strong>No</strong>ah Rainey<br />

Carroll County Sheriff’s Office, Indiana<br />

End of Watch Saturday, January 29, 2022<br />

Age N/A Tour 7 Years Badge # N/A<br />

Deputy Sheriff <strong>No</strong>ah Rainey and Corrections Officer Dane <strong>No</strong>rthcutt were killed<br />

in a vehicle crash in Sedalia, Indiana, while responding to assist a member of<br />

the Rossville Marshal’s Office during a vehicle pursuit. He was responding along<br />

Route 26 when his vehicle left the roadway near Washington Street and struck a<br />

utility pole. Other members of the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office and the Indiana<br />

State Police came across the crash while also responding to the pursuit. They<br />

immediately began to render aid but both Deputy Rainey and Officer <strong>No</strong>rthcutt,<br />

who was a passenger in the patrol car, succumbed to their injuries.<br />

Deputy Rainey had served with the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office as a full-time<br />

deputy for three years and as a reserve deputy for one year. He had previously<br />

served with the Tippecanoe County Sheriff’s Office for three years and the Indiana<br />

Department of Correction for one year.<br />

Deputy Sheriff Lorin Marie Readmond<br />

Loving County Sheriff’s Office, Texas<br />

End of Watch Saturday, January 29, 2022<br />

Age 41 Tour 7 Years 1 Month Badge # LC106<br />

Deputy Sheriff Lorin Readmond was killed in a vehicle collision while en route to<br />

assist another deputy who had made a traffic stop at about 4:30 pm.<br />

A tractor-trailer attempted to turn in front of her patrol car on Highway 302,<br />

causing a fatal collision.<br />

Deputy Readmond was a U.S. Navy Reserve veteran. She had served with the<br />

Loving County Sheriff’s Office for almost three years and had previously served<br />

with the Hudspeth County Sheriff’s Office for over four years. She is survived by<br />

her mother, sister, and three brothers.<br />

Jail Deputy Dane <strong>No</strong>rthcutt<br />

Carroll County Sheriff’s Office, Indiana<br />

End of Watch Saturday, January 29, 2022<br />

Age N/A Tour N/A Badge # N/A<br />

Jail Deputy Dane <strong>No</strong>rthcutt and Deputy Sheriff <strong>No</strong>ah Rainey were killed in a<br />

vehicle crash in Sedalia, Indiana, while responding to assist a member of the<br />

Rossville Marshal’s Office during a vehicle pursuit.<br />

Deputy Rainey was responding along Route 26 when his vehicle left the roadway<br />

near Washington Street and struck a utility pole. Other members of the<br />

Carroll County Sheriff’s Office and the Indiana State Police came across the<br />

crash while also responding to the pursuit. They immediately began to render<br />

aid but both Deputy Rainey and Deputy <strong>No</strong>rthcutt, who was a passenger in the<br />

patrol car, succumbed to their injuries.<br />

Police Officer Donald Sahota<br />

Vancouver Police Department, Washington<br />

End of Watch Saturday, January 29, 2022<br />

Age 52 Tour 7 Years Badge # N/A<br />

Police Officer Donald Sahota was inadvertently shot and killed by a Clark County<br />

Sheriff’s Office deputy while attempting to apprehend a robbery suspect who<br />

was attempting to break into his home.<br />

Officer Sahota had served with the Vancouver Police Department for over seven<br />

years. He had previously served with the Gresham Police Department and the<br />

Port of Portland Police Department in Oregon. He is survived by his wife and two<br />

children.<br />

62 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 63


Texas Peace Officer<br />

Police Officer<br />

Franklin Joe<br />

Lone Star College Police Dept., Houston<br />

End of Watch Tuesday, January 4, 2022<br />

64 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 65


Texas Peace Officer<br />

Texas Peace Officer<br />

Sheriff’s Deputy<br />

Amanda “Mandi” Crowder<br />

Harris County Sheriff’s Office, Houston<br />

End of Watch Tuesday, January 18, 2022<br />

Special Agent<br />

Anthony Salas<br />

Texas Dept. of Public Safety, Austin<br />

End of Watch Saturday, January 22, 2022<br />

66 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 67


Texas Peace Officer<br />

Texas Peace Officer<br />

Corporal<br />

Charles Galloway<br />

Harris County Constable Pct. 5, Houston<br />

End of Watch Sunday, January 23, 2022<br />

Sergeant<br />

Ramon Gutierrez<br />

Harris County Sheriff’s Office, Houston<br />

End of Watch Monday, January 24, 2022<br />

68 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 69


Texas Peace Officer<br />

Texas Peace Officer<br />

Officer<br />

Christopher Berry<br />

Vidor Police Dept., Vidor<br />

End of Watch Tuesday, January 25, 2022<br />

Sheriff’s Deputy<br />

Lorin Marie Readmond<br />

Loving County Sheriff’s Office, Mentone<br />

End of Watch Tuesday, January 29, 2022<br />

70 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 71


HARRIS COUNTY JAILS<br />

Overcrowding, assaults, sexual assaults, fights, COVID, and lawsuits.<br />

By Michael Barron<br />

As far back as I can remember, The Harris County Jail<br />

System has always been over-populated and understaffed.<br />

Lawsuits, inmate complaints as well as horrible<br />

work conditions have been an on-going problem in<br />

the county since the 1970’s.<br />

Harris County’s overcrowding issues became big<br />

news in 1972 when a prisoner, named Lawrence Alberti<br />

filed a lawsuit against the county charging that conditions<br />

in the county jail amounted to cruel and unusual<br />

punishment. (As someone who worked just one week<br />

in the old 301 Jail, I can attest it was cruel for both inmates<br />

and deputies)<br />

The lawsuit eventually became a class action lawsuit,<br />

including all Harris County inmates as plaintiffs. The<br />

Alberti lawsuit forced the county to build additional<br />

jails and make changes to its entire jail system.<br />

This month we look at the problems,<br />

inside the Harris County Jails.<br />

THE PLAYERS<br />

72 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 73<br />

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2310 Atascocita Rd<br />

HCSO Academy & Detention Center<br />

301 San Jacinto,<br />

HCSO Headquarters & Jail<br />

1945-1983<br />

In 1980, there were two major jails in Harris<br />

County. The main jail located at 301 San Jacinto<br />

and the Rehab at 2301 Atascocita Rd. in Humble.<br />

Each county substation also had an outlying jail<br />

that held prisoners until a ‘paddy wagon’ made a<br />

daily run to transport inmates downtown for processing.<br />

The 301 facility was also the headquarters of the<br />

Harris County Sheriff’s Dept. Three floors housed<br />

inmates while the basement had the booking,<br />

kitchen, laundry, and releasing areas. The commissary<br />

operated in a room on one of the housing<br />

floors. 301 was designed to hold 409 inmates and<br />

but at times had as many as 1000 inmates, most of<br />

which were sleeping on the floors.<br />

The Detention Center ‘Rehab’, located in Atascocita<br />

just outside of Humble, northeast of Houston,<br />

consisted of a 1250 inmate facility housed in a<br />

three-floor housing unit. There was a large inmate<br />

visitors center, laundry, inmate processing and a<br />

classification area. It too was over crowed with inmates<br />

often sleeping on the floor under bunks. The<br />

front of the rehab also housed the Harris County<br />

Sheriff’s Academy.<br />

The Houston Police Department also operated its<br />

own jail at 61 Reisner Street in downtown Houston.<br />

Every day, HPD officers arrived at the county jail<br />

with “the city drag” a new batch of city prisoners<br />

that had to be booked and processed.<br />

The first jail to be built in the aftermath of the<br />

Alberti lawsuit was the 850,000 square foot facility<br />

at 1301 Franklin, also in downtown Houston.<br />

The ‘new’ jail opened on September 13, 1982 and<br />

consisted of 13 stories and an inmate processing<br />

center in the basement. The Sheriff’s administrative<br />

offices moved out of the old 301 building and<br />

were located on the first floor of the new building.<br />

The tiny one-room dispatch area at 301 also moved<br />

into a larger more modern facility at 1301.<br />

This new modern jail had the capacity to house<br />

around 4,000 inmates but at times held up to<br />

6,000. The 1301 jail remained open until January<br />

23, 2003, when a newer more modern jail was<br />

built on Baker Street a mile or so away. After Hurricane<br />

Harvey flooded downtown Houston, the 1301<br />

building is scheduled to be demolished soon. The<br />

only thing living there now is bayou snakes.<br />

701 Jail<br />

To alleviate overcrowding at 1301 and to satisfy<br />

the Texas Jail Commission, a newer even more<br />

modern jail was built at 701 <strong>No</strong>rth San Jacinto<br />

Street and became one of the largest detention facilities<br />

in the United States. The five-story building<br />

was formerly a cold storage warehouse, The Houston<br />

Terminal Warehouse and Cold Storage Facility,<br />

that began operations in the late 1920s.<br />

Harris County began the planning and design<br />

stage of its new jail in 1986 and two years later<br />

completed the process and began thawing out the<br />

cold storage portion of the building. In December<br />

of 1989, construction on the facility began and the<br />

facility was gutted, and two additional floors were<br />

added. Harris County stated that the re-use of the<br />

warehouse saved the county about $21 million.<br />

The 701 Jail opened for business in August 1991.<br />

The seven-floor jail had a total of 4,144 inmate<br />

beds 3418 of which are in use today.) About 600<br />

sheriff’s deputies and detention officers work in<br />

61 Riesner St.<br />

Former Houston Police Dept. Jail<br />

1301 Franklin<br />

HCSO Headquarters & Jail<br />

1983-2003<br />

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the facility today. The county designates the 701<br />

Jail as a “Direct Observation” facility, which means<br />

staff members monitor inmates continuously for<br />

24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In 2002 the 701 Jail<br />

was the second largest jail in the U.S., with the Los<br />

Angeles County Men’s Central Jail of the LA County<br />

Sheriff’s Department being the largest. Today,<br />

Harris County ranks 3rd in the U.S. Behind LA and<br />

Rikers Island in New York.<br />

The 1200 Jail<br />

In early 2000, with the jail population approaching<br />

10,000, Harris County needed yet another facility<br />

to house inmates and a newer, even more modern<br />

facility was built at 1200 Baker Street. The new<br />

complex officially opened on January 23, 2003.<br />

Once again, the administrative offices of the<br />

Sheriff’s Department were on the move to this<br />

603,000 square foot facility which also came with<br />

a 100,000 square foot parking garage. (Something<br />

that was sorely missing from the 1301 Franklin<br />

location) This new jail was designed to hold 4,156<br />

regular beds, 124 beds for the Medical Division,<br />

and 96 beds for MHMRA. The building is the width<br />

of football field, and two football fields in length.<br />

(Due to COVID restrictions, 3,779 beds are available<br />

and in use at 1200)<br />

Today 430 sheriff’s deputies and detention officers<br />

work at the facility. The facility also houses<br />

an inmate classification center.<br />

JPC - Joint Processing Center<br />

The Joint Processing Center (JPC) project, located<br />

at 700 N. San Jacinto, is a partnership between<br />

Harris County and the City of Houston that<br />

consolidated all Houston Police Department (HPD)<br />

and Harris County Jail prisoner processing operations<br />

into one modern facility. The JPC allowed<br />

the city to close its’ jails and redeploy 100 HPD<br />

officers back to the streets. The JPC also allowed<br />

the HCSO to replace an old, undersized facility and<br />

modernize its outdated operating systems.<br />

With a basement, three full floors and a secure<br />

tunnel connection to other county facilities, the<br />

1200 Baker Street<br />

NEW HCSO Headquarters & Jail<br />

Opened 2003<br />

701 <strong>No</strong>rth San Jacinto<br />

Largest Jail in the US when Built<br />

Opened 1991<br />

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700 N. San Jacinto<br />

NEW Joint Processing Center (JPC)<br />

Opened 2019<br />

246,000-square-foot JPC facility serves the nation’s<br />

third largest county jail system. The JPC facilitates<br />

the efficient intake and release processing of approximately<br />

800 detainees daily, and also includes<br />

552 direct supervision housing beds.<br />

The new JPC was built using an open seating operational<br />

model, thus creating a more efficient, normative<br />

environment for all facility users. This model<br />

allows the Sheriff’s Office to proactively supervise<br />

all detainees, thus enhancing overall safety and<br />

security. In addition, the open model expedites the<br />

flow of inbound and outbound detainees by reduc-<br />

ing the need for officers to escort prisoners in/out<br />

of holding cells to perform the various processing<br />

functions. The JPC also contains some holding<br />

cells for those detainees who are disruptive or<br />

need protective status. The JPC has 545 beds.<br />

711 Jail<br />

The County also houses 144 inmates, mostly<br />

trustees assigned to outside areas of the downtown<br />

facilities, at a facility located at 711 San<br />

Jacinto Street.<br />

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Over Crowding/ It Never Goes Away<br />

<strong>No</strong>w that you know the layout and history of<br />

Harris Counties jails, let’s look at the operational<br />

side and see what led to yet another jail lawsuit,<br />

except this time, HC employees filed the suit not<br />

the inmates.<br />

Between 2004 and 2009 the population of the<br />

Harris County jails increased from 7,648 to 11,546.<br />

In 2012, the Harris County jail facilities had a combined<br />

capacity for 9,434 inmates. Even with new<br />

jails online, the county jail system was over- populated.<br />

In late 2012, 1600 inmates were eventually<br />

transferred to Louisiana to serve out their sentences.<br />

In January of last year, with COVID running rampant<br />

in Harris County, there was a rising concern<br />

that the jails could become a hotbed for COVID as<br />

it neared 97% capacity. With almost 9,000 inmates<br />

housed between the two jails, 60 had contracted<br />

the virus since the start of the year. Almost 2600<br />

tested positive since the pandemic began and six<br />

of those died.<br />

The threat of overcrowding forced the sheriff’s<br />

office to request aid from Commissioner’s Court<br />

to help fight the spread of the virus. The Court<br />

approved its request for $23.8 million in funds<br />

to cover operating costs while courts slowed to<br />

a snail’s pace, forcing the jail to hold even more<br />

inmates waiting for trial.<br />

In December 2021, Sheriff Gonzalez made a request<br />

to Commissioners to outsource up to 500 inmates<br />

to a jail outside of Harris County in an effort<br />

to reduce the overcrowding. The court agreed and<br />

in January 2022 those inmates were transferred<br />

to a private correctional company called LaSalle<br />

Corrections in Olla , LA.<br />

In a Houston Chronicle interview, the Sheriff<br />

stated, “The number of maximum (security) classification<br />

individuals is at an all-time high,” Gonzalez<br />

said. “If we add medium security, which are<br />

not necessarily a low-level inmate, you’re looking<br />

at almost 8,000 people that are either medium or<br />

maximum. There is no other facility in the entire<br />

state of Texas, no state prison and no county jail,<br />

that comes close to these kinds of numbers.”<br />

The start of 2022 didn’t show any signs things<br />

would change either. On a given day, the jail continued<br />

to average about 9,000 people detained in<br />

total. Gonzalez said people are being booked at<br />

a higher rate than those being released. With the<br />

courts running so far behind, inmates have been<br />

waiting up to 28-30 months before they go to trial.<br />

Of course, the ones who should be locked up, the<br />

repeat offenders charged with felonies, are released<br />

on no or low bonds and continue to commit<br />

crimes throughout the city and county.<br />

With a jail system at capacity and above, too<br />

few deputies to supervise them properly, the result<br />

is an unprecedented number of violent assaults<br />

and fights among the inmates, as well as the staff.<br />

As of December 31, 2021, there have been a total<br />

of 10,519 violent incidents reported with 1341 assaults<br />

on staff and 9178 reported violent assaults<br />

or fights among the inmates in 2021 alone.<br />

Back in 2019, there were only 181 assaults on<br />

inmates. This doesn’t include assaults on inmates<br />

that are considered mutual combat (fighting) but<br />

are determined to be one-sided events that resulted<br />

in medical care. That same year, there were 46<br />

documented assaults on detention staff.<br />

Harris County Jail Employees<br />

File Federal Lawsuit Over<br />

Working Conditions<br />

Deputies, detention officers and others say public<br />

safety is at risk if the county doesn’t provide funds<br />

for more staff.<br />

This rise in violence against HC deputies and<br />

detention officers led to the Harris County Deputies<br />

Union FOP Lodge 39 filing a federal class-action<br />

lawsuit on behalf of the Employees of the Harris<br />

County Jail accusing the county of refusing to<br />

properly fund and staff the facility.<br />

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It asserts that as a result, employees are working<br />

extreme hours and mandatory overtime, which it<br />

says puts both them and jail inmates at risk and<br />

doesn’t meet requirements set by the Texas Commission<br />

on Jail Standards.<br />

“There’s so many knives and shanks that have<br />

been discovered, it’s incredible that there’s not<br />

more prisoners that have died and more employees<br />

that have not been stabbed,” Harris County Deputies<br />

Organization President David Cuevas said.<br />

He said due to the shortage, jailers are not even<br />

allowed bathroom breaks.<br />

And the issue extends to outside of the jail as<br />

well, he said.<br />

“They’re now requiring our patrol deputies to<br />

help supplement our jails,” Cuevas said. “That is<br />

creating a further violent risk out in the community.”<br />

The plaintiffs are jail supervisors, deputies,<br />

detention officers, medical officers and civilian<br />

personnel who have worked at the county jail in<br />

the past two years. They are identified only as John<br />

and Jane Does for fear of retaliation.<br />

Named as defendants are Harris County, Sheriff<br />

Ed Gonzalez, as well as County Judge Linda Hidalgo<br />

and each county commissioner.<br />

The plaintiffs are not asking for monetary damages<br />

but for the county to provide sufficient funding<br />

and staffing for the jail and to implement “reasonable<br />

policies, procedures, and practices,” such<br />

as bathroom and lunch breaks. According to the<br />

lawsuit, whenever the employees have complained<br />

to the county about the conditions, their pleas have<br />

been ignored.<br />

“The only result of these attempts has been longer<br />

working hours and further intolerable conditions,”<br />

it states.<br />

Cuevas said the jail needs at least 500 additional<br />

deputies and detention officers.<br />

According to the lawsuit, about 2,500 people<br />

currently work at the jail, including civilians. The<br />

total inmate population remains around 9,000.<br />

“This didn’t happen overnight,” Cuevas said. “But<br />

it’s been manifesting and brewing over the last few<br />

years, and the current court is not addressing the<br />

issue.”<br />

When asked about the lawsuit, Hidalgo acknowledged<br />

that jail overcrowding has been a problem.<br />

She blamed a backlog of criminal cases that started<br />

when Harvey flooded the courthouse in 2017 and<br />

was made worse by the pandemic. Hidalgo called<br />

the lawsuit itself political and said the timing coincides<br />

with her reelection campaign.<br />

“It was filed with the press before it was filed<br />

with the court,” she said, alluding to an interview<br />

Cuevas did with local television about the lawsuit a<br />

day before it was filed. “So, it just tells you it was a<br />

stunt, a political thing.”<br />

Actually the lawsuit was filed the day of the press<br />

conference, but the federal clerks had an issue with<br />

the size of the lawsuit and it wasn’t served until<br />

later in the day.<br />

“We sincerely hope that this lawsuit filed against<br />

Harris County can be a catalyst for change inside<br />

the Harris County Jail. <strong>No</strong> employee should be<br />

subject to the conditions that have been allowed to<br />

happen in Harris County – working five 12-16 hour<br />

shifts, peeing in bags under desks because there<br />

are not enough employees to give relief breaks,<br />

and the daily assaults on staff. Female employees<br />

are constantly subject to sexual harassment and<br />

assaults because inmate discipline is a joke. The<br />

inmates have been allowed to run the facility and<br />

that has to stop. The safety of the employees and<br />

the inmates are at risk and Harris County needs to<br />

continue to make meaningful changes for the safety<br />

of their own employees,” remarked Robin Mcllhenny<br />

Foster, HCDO FOP attorney.<br />

Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, in an email, said the strain<br />

on the county’s criminal justice system and public<br />

health system by the pandemic has been “unyielding<br />

and unprecedented,”<br />

“Everyone with a stake in ensuring Harris County<br />

public safety recognizes that our current trajectory<br />

is unsustainable,” he continued. “We all understand<br />

we must do more to reduce violent crime, address<br />

the backlog of cases in our courts, and improve the<br />

working conditions of our dedicated public servants.<br />

As sheriff, I am committed to working with<br />

all partners on solutions that keep us safe.”<br />

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In the lawsuit, the employees provided accounts<br />

of sexual violence and assaults that occurred on a<br />

daily basis. They were certain that if the conditions<br />

in the jail didn’t change, someone would be seriously<br />

injured or even killed.<br />

Then on December 6, 2021, those fears came true<br />

when a female sergeant was attacked, beaten<br />

and sexually assaulted inside her office at the 1200<br />

Baker Street Jail. The assault occurred at 2pm by<br />

a 27-year-old inmate named Jeremiah Williams,<br />

who according to jail personnel, shouldn’t have<br />

been alone and was classified to always have an<br />

escort while outside his cell. The sergeant, who<br />

was beaten and sexually assaulted, was initially<br />

treated in the jail clinic but eventually transported<br />

to Hermann Hospital for treatment.<br />

“We had one of our employee representatives<br />

go down to the hospital and he said it’s the worst<br />

beating he’s ever seen in his 46-year career,” said<br />

David Cuevas, “It’s shaken our agency to the core.”<br />

Williams, was in jail on charges of sexual assault<br />

and attempted sexual assault from two attacks<br />

on September 8, 2020, that occurred within<br />

minutes of each other at a west Harris County<br />

Park. In one of those attacks, deputies said Williams<br />

punched a 45-year-old jogger in the face<br />

and body before sexually assaulting her. Minutes<br />

later, Williams allegedly ran up behind a 27-yearold<br />

jogger and tackled her to the ground but fortunately,<br />

she was able to escape.<br />

“The brutal attack of our Sheriff’s Office teammate<br />

warrants a thorough and swift investigation,”<br />

said Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez in an interview<br />

on a local TV station. “Uncovering all the<br />

relevant facts related to this alleged assault is a<br />

top priority as we seek answers and justice. All our<br />

brave employees deserve to feel safe, and we will<br />

do everything to protect them. Our team’s immediate<br />

focus is offering a range of full support to our<br />

team member.”<br />

“There’s not enough people in that jail. I keep<br />

saying that. I keep warning them. I keep telling<br />

them and they don’t listen,” said David Batton, attorney<br />

for the deputies’ organization.<br />

Less than a week later, two more detention officers,<br />

a male and a female, were assaulted and<br />

both sustained injuries that required them to both<br />

be transported to the hospital. Both officers were<br />

experienced detention officers with over 10 years<br />

of experience each.<br />

“The male had a broken ankle and a broken nose.<br />

His jaw was swollen but not broken but he had<br />

a black eye. The female had swelling in her head<br />

and lacerations. She was struck many times in the<br />

head by the inmate,” said Robin Mcilhenny, an attorney<br />

for the Harris County Deputies Organization.<br />

The Sheriff’s Office confirmed that Jarell Barrow,<br />

who is currently in jail on capital murder charges,<br />

is the suspect in the attacks. The Harris County<br />

district attorney’s office said 20-year-old Barrow<br />

is now facing several additional charges.<br />

Here are two excerpts from the lawsuit filed<br />

against Harris County:<br />

274. Jane Doe 20 was assigned as a rover on the<br />

6th floor of 701 on June 10, 2021. She went to do<br />

CorreTrak rounds in Cellblock 6F. That cellblock<br />

has four pods designed to hold twenty-four inmates<br />

each. Jane Doe 20 had made CorreTrak<br />

rounds in the first two cells and was in the third<br />

(6F2-3) when she was assaulted. The QR codes<br />

have been moved inside the cells, so she had to<br />

physically enter the cell to do her job. According to<br />

policy, there should have been another detention<br />

officer at the doorway when she entered the cell,<br />

but there was not because the jail is too shorthanded.<br />

6F2-3 is a two-tier cell. She had reached<br />

the top of the stairs when she noticed an inmate<br />

had his hand inside his pants and was masturbating.<br />

She told the inmate to take his hand out of his<br />

pants. It appeared the inmate was going to comply,<br />

but moments later she saw him approaching<br />

her through her peripheral vision. The inmate<br />

stated something to the effect of, “I’m going to<br />

get some, some kind of way.” The inmate grabbed<br />

Jane Doe 20’s left breast. She tried to push him<br />

away and he tried to grab her vagina. Jane Doe 20<br />

circled around the bunk to get away from him, but<br />

he jumped through the bottom bunk and grabbed<br />

her pants from behind. Jane Doe 20 tried to punch<br />

the inmate but missed and struck the concrete<br />

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pillar and broke her right hand. Another inmate<br />

got between her and the inmate that was trying<br />

to rape her and she was able to go downstairs.<br />

As she exited the door the responding rovers were<br />

coming in and she identified the inmate that had<br />

assaulted her. She was told by Harris County, that<br />

in order for charges to be filed she would have to<br />

write a report before going to the hospital. That<br />

took a while because she had to type with one<br />

finger. When that was done, she went to the 701<br />

clinics. The staff there wrapped her hand in ice<br />

and sent her to the Memorial Herman emergency<br />

room. At the hospital she learned her hand was<br />

broken.<br />

275. Jane Doe 7 worked on the 6th floor at the<br />

time of the assault on Jane Doe 20. She states that<br />

the inmate that assaulted Jane Doe 20 was well<br />

known for masturbating in front of female staff,<br />

but staff felt powerless to have him moved or disciplined<br />

for his actions. After the assault, however,<br />

he was moved to another floor.<br />

Besides the lawsuit, Harris County has to contend<br />

with ongoing jail inspections conducted by<br />

the Texas Commission on Jail Standards. The last<br />

inspection was held on <strong>No</strong>vember 15-17, 2021, and<br />

The Commission found that deficiencies existed<br />

in the jails and the county was given 14 days to<br />

correct them.<br />

The report stated: “While reviewing the faceto-face<br />

observations from the 1200 Baker Street<br />

and 701 N. San Jacinto jail facilities, the inspection<br />

team observed multiple checks that were late<br />

with as much as 90-144 minutes lapsing between<br />

rounds. In some instances, comments were entered<br />

into the system revealing why rounds were<br />

conducted late and included such remarks as short<br />

staffed, no rover available, the Corretrk system did<br />

not update. There were several occasions where<br />

no comment was entered into the system indicating<br />

why the observation round was conducted<br />

late. This was an area of deficiently during the last<br />

annual inspection.” The report indicated that the<br />

county had to submit a plan of action within the<br />

next 14 days to the lead inspector Byron Shelton,<br />

detailing how the county was going to correct the<br />

deficiency.<br />

The report also stated “That the jail was utilizing<br />

supervisors and essential personal such as intake<br />

personnel to work housing unit assignments in<br />

order to meet the officer to inmate ratio of 1:48.<br />

This is being done on a regular and ongoing basis<br />

which does not all these personnel to perform<br />

their regular duties. Minimal staffing has a direct<br />

impact on the ability to provide a safe and secure<br />

environment for inmates and staff in areas such<br />

as enforcing inmate rules, ensuring inmates clean<br />

housing areas, provide for sufficient staff to support<br />

housing officers and has possible contributed<br />

to an increase in inmate-on-inmate assaults and<br />

inmate on officer assaults.”<br />

The commission ordered the county to submit a<br />

plan within 14 days on how they intended to correct<br />

these deficiencies.<br />

The Sheriff likes to state that the jail is meeting<br />

the 1 to 48 ratio but the way the jail buildings are<br />

laid out, the housing floor can meet ratio and still<br />

not be able to function. There are some floors that<br />

can meet ratio and not even have enough people<br />

to man all the essential stations for the care,<br />

custody, and control of the inmates. The important<br />

factor is if the jail is doing its essential functions<br />

such as the mandated rounds, the contraband<br />

searches, and inmate control. These things are not<br />

happening, and the jail is not functioning even if<br />

the math on paper shows compliance with the 1:48<br />

ratio.<br />

The increase in assaults across the board is reason<br />

enough for Commissioners to act immediately<br />

to hire 500 to 1000 new officers to correct this situation.<br />

If they don’t act, the next assault on a staff<br />

member may result in that officer’s death instead<br />

of a trip to the hospital.<br />

Next month, we’ll look into the staffing issues<br />

at the Harris County SO and see how 345 deputies<br />

patrol 1,778 square miles and protect 2 million<br />

people.<br />

HARRIS COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE<br />

Violent Incident Displinary<br />

Statistics<br />

Jan. 2016 - Sept. 2021<br />

Assaults on Inmates 7,755<br />

Assaults on Staff 1,995<br />

Fights 6,650<br />

Total 16,400<br />

Jan. 2021 - Dec. 2021<br />

Assaults on Inmates 5,156<br />

Assaults on Staff 1.341<br />

Fights 4,025<br />

Total 10,522<br />

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BY SGT. MICHAEL BARRON, RET.<br />

Case Solved in 30 Minutes or Less<br />

I was only a block away when<br />

the call dropped. “Fight in progress,<br />

man fighting with young<br />

female at the Bridgestone Apartments,<br />

Apartment 203, possible<br />

weapon involved.” As soon as I<br />

turned into the complex, I saw<br />

a crowd of people gathered in<br />

the parking lot in a circle. Well, I<br />

guess the fight had moved downstairs.<br />

See this wasn’t my first<br />

time at Apt 203. In fact, I knew<br />

both tenants very well. Angelia<br />

and Marcus Smith. Common-law<br />

man and wife, boyfriend/girlfriend,<br />

fightee and fighter. As I<br />

called out, I thought here we go<br />

again. Same ole bullshit.<br />

As I walked up, the crowd<br />

backed up and there on the<br />

ground in a pool of blood was<br />

Angelia. Her head flattened<br />

against the concrete sidewalk,<br />

her leg twisted and obviously<br />

broken. I felt for a pulse and<br />

nothing. All the times I’d been<br />

there, all the drama, all for nothing.<br />

I called for a supervisor, detectives,<br />

ambulance, Crime Scene<br />

Unit and notify the ME. It’s going<br />

to a long night.<br />

• • •<br />

I first met this lovely couple<br />

about two years ago. They had<br />

moved to Spring from Gulf Port,<br />

Mississippi. I really don’t remember<br />

why, but they were both<br />

Meth heads and nothing they<br />

ever said really made any sense.<br />

Marcus worked construction and<br />

Angelia did a little bit of everything.<br />

When they needed a fix<br />

between paydays, Marcus would<br />

send Angelia out to do tricks so<br />

they could score some crystal.<br />

Then he would beat the crap out<br />

of her when he got wasted for<br />

whoring around. Dude, you sent<br />

her out to get money to score<br />

your dope. <strong>No</strong>w you’re beating<br />

her for doing exactly what you<br />

asked her to do. WTF.<br />

<strong>No</strong>w mind you all this took<br />

place in the early 80’s and Domestic<br />

Violence laws weren’t a<br />

thing yet. The wife/girlfriend had<br />

to appear as the complainant<br />

not the State. And every single<br />

time I took ole Marcus to jail and<br />

filed on him, Angelia would drop<br />

the charges.<br />

“But I really love him, and he<br />

loves me. He says he’s sorry and<br />

that he didn’t mean to hit me.”<br />

Over and over again I’d show<br />

up, file a report and file charges.<br />

She’d either drop the charges or<br />

refuse to go to court. And the<br />

ADA would yell and scream at<br />

me every time. Once, she even<br />

asked if she could ride to the jail<br />

with us so she could bail him<br />

out.<br />

“Sure Angelia, get in the back<br />

seat with him. I have to handcuff<br />

you, it’s policy” <strong>No</strong>w I’m gonna<br />

book your stupid ass for PI and<br />

whatever the else I can think of,<br />

to put your ass in jail with him.<br />

Didn’t matter, they were both<br />

out the next day and within<br />

hours fighting again. They moved<br />

to a dozen different apartment<br />

complexes over the past twenty-four<br />

months, as apartment<br />

managers grew tired of the police<br />

kicking in doors to stop the<br />

fights.<br />

On two different occasions, I<br />

actually helped her move out.<br />

I rented her a van, helped her<br />

move what little stuff she had<br />

while Marcus was at work. I<br />

enrolled her in a drug rehab and<br />

signed her up to get help from<br />

the women’s shelter. The first<br />

time she stayed away a couple<br />

of months. Then “she missed<br />

her man” and low and behold<br />

one Friday night I’m back at yet<br />

another apartment complex and<br />

he’s beaten the crap out of her…<br />

again. He goes to jail, she cries,<br />

yada yada.<br />

The second moveout was different,<br />

or so I thought. I checked<br />

her into a new Drug Treatment<br />

Center that had opened in downtown,<br />

and it was locked down<br />

tight. Check-in and you don’t get<br />

out until you’re clean and ready<br />

to move on with your life. Angelia<br />

stayed inside for six months<br />

and according to her counselor,<br />

she was really doing well. She<br />

had met a really nice guy inside<br />

and was ready to start a new<br />

life. BUT. She got released and<br />

he didn’t. I heard she kept visiting<br />

him while staying at a nearby<br />

women’s shelter.<br />

Eight months had passed, and<br />

I was actually pretty proud that<br />

I had taken a meth head and got<br />

her rehabilitated and stopped a<br />

string of violence between her<br />

and Marcus that would have had<br />

a tragic ending, at least in my<br />

mind anyway. Then early one<br />

Wednesday night, I got a disturbance<br />

call at the Bridgestone<br />

Apartments, Apt. 203. Imagine<br />

the look on my face when I<br />

walked in an open door and saw<br />

Angelia sitting on a couch with a<br />

bloody nose. Are you serious?<br />

What the hell are you even<br />

doing up here Angelia? I broke<br />

up with Steven (the rehab boyfriend)<br />

and I missed Marcus. Holy<br />

shit, are you kidding me with this<br />

crap. And are you high? NO, I just<br />

took a bump with Marcus! I’m<br />

not HIGH!<br />

And where the hell is Marcus?<br />

“He’s at his brothers around<br />

the corner. He didn’t want to get<br />

popped, he’s on probation you<br />

know.” She says in a slurred,<br />

barely audible drunken voice.<br />

Naw, I didn’t know. Are you<br />

going to file on him this time and<br />

actually GO TO COURT.<br />

“Yes, yes I will. I’m tired of his<br />

shit”<br />

So, I drive around the corner<br />

and there in the courtyard of, yet<br />

another dirtball complex was<br />

Marcus and his dirtball brother.<br />

One thing I will say about Marcus<br />

was he was never any trouble.<br />

He may have been a f’up but I<br />

never had to fight him. I cuffed<br />

him, went back to Bridgestone,<br />

wrote the report and transported<br />

the boy to jail.<br />

Angelia, I hope this is the last<br />

88 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 89<br />

88 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 89


time I have to come out here.<br />

“I promise it’s the last time. I’ve<br />

learned my lesson. I promise.<br />

I’d sooner die then come back<br />

here.”<br />

Uh huh. We’ll see.<br />

• • •<br />

As soon as the detectives arrived<br />

on the scene, I told the lead<br />

detective that I’d be right back.<br />

He looked at me like I was nuts.<br />

“You’re leaving? Do we have any<br />

suspects? Do we have a description?<br />

Where the hell are you<br />

going?”<br />

To arrest a guy for murder,<br />

where else! He looked at me like<br />

I was crazy.<br />

“Hey, bring me back some<br />

Whataburger, I know that’s<br />

where you’re going. Arrest a suspect,<br />

my ass.”<br />

I drove around the corner,<br />

and yep I was right. There were<br />

Marcus and his dumbass brother<br />

smoking a pipe in the parking lot.<br />

As soon as I walked up, Marcus<br />

looked me right in the eye and<br />

said “I know, I know, I’m sorry<br />

I didn’t mean to fight with her,<br />

and I didn’t mean to push her. But<br />

she’ll be OK, and she won’t file<br />

on me. She loves me. I’m her entire<br />

world. I’ll go with her to the<br />

hospital and I’ll take care of her. I<br />

promise officer.”<br />

As I handcuffed him for the last<br />

time, I said, “no Marcus you aren’t<br />

going to the hospital, you’re<br />

going to prison… for life. See<br />

this time, I’m filing the charges<br />

and I don’t need Angelia. And she<br />

won’t ever have to worry about<br />

you beating her again. She’s at<br />

peace finally.” As I finished reading<br />

him his rights, he says,<br />

“Naw, she always comes back<br />

to me. She’ll be back, you’ll see.<br />

It was just a little push, she’ll be<br />

OK,”<br />

<strong>No</strong> Marcus, she won’t. As we<br />

pulled back into the Bridgestone<br />

Apartments for the last time,<br />

the ME was loading Angelia into<br />

the body car. Marcus didn’t fully<br />

understand what was going on<br />

until we got out of the car and<br />

the detectives walked up.<br />

Detective Martin, this is Marcus<br />

Smith. I mirandized him and he<br />

has just confessed to pushing his<br />

common law wife Angelia Smith<br />

off the second-floor balcony and<br />

killing her.<br />

Oh, and I’m sorry, I didn’t make<br />

it to Whataburger.<br />

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WORDS BY A DE-FUNDED POLICE OFFICER<br />

The Second You Realize De-Funding the<br />

Police Was a Mistake<br />

I live and work in a city that<br />

just defunded their police. I<br />

won’t mention the name because<br />

it will result in my immediate<br />

termination. See, we<br />

are not allowed to comment on<br />

our “transition to a non-violent<br />

police force.” This “transition”<br />

was what everyone said it would<br />

be. The city officials behind the<br />

move thought they could cut our<br />

budget, cancel academy classes<br />

and hire civilians to come in and<br />

do police work. Well, it didn’t<br />

quite work out that way.<br />

When the announcement was<br />

made, 152 officers submitted<br />

their paperwork and took early<br />

retirement. Another hundred or<br />

so started burning overtime and<br />

accumulated vacation time. I<br />

work evenings and, in my district,<br />

we normally have 45 officers<br />

on duty at any given time.<br />

Today, at roll call, there were 10<br />

of us. I thought I made a mistake<br />

when I walked in. Like a lot of<br />

departments, we don’t have roll<br />

call every day. So, did I miss the<br />

notice today was one of those<br />

days?<br />

The Sgt. walked in and looked<br />

like he just lost his best friend.<br />

Rather than stand behind his<br />

podium he just grabbed a chair,<br />

turned it around and sat next to<br />

me.<br />

“Guys I don’t know what to say.<br />

This is all we have to work with<br />

tonight. Everyone is riding oneman<br />

units and we all need to<br />

back each other up. Priority calls<br />

only, we’re leaving the reports<br />

for tomorrow’s day shift.”<br />

Sarge, are you saying that the<br />

ten of us are going to cover the<br />

entire district? With protesters in<br />

the streets?<br />

“Unfortunately, that’s exactly<br />

what I’m saying. The good<br />

news is that the State has sent<br />

troopers in to cover the protesters,<br />

hell call it what it is, RIOTS.<br />

So at least we don’t have to go<br />

downtown. Besides I hear city<br />

council is making some kind of<br />

appearance down there and I<br />

don’t need you guys mouthing<br />

off to them. We all know they<br />

are assholes, but I can’t afford<br />

to lose any more people due to<br />

mandatory days off for cussing<br />

out council members.”<br />

Yes, our city council is comprised<br />

of a bunch of left-wing<br />

radical morons who have no idea<br />

what they’ve done. Bunch of rich<br />

assholes living uptown in their<br />

big ass mansions with private<br />

security guards and K9’s. <strong>No</strong>thing<br />

bad ever happens to them, and<br />

they figure they don’t need us<br />

when they have their own private<br />

army protecting their stupid<br />

butts.<br />

I just shook my head, fist<br />

bumped the sarge and got the<br />

hell out of there. This was going<br />

to one bullshit night; I just knew<br />

it. I loaded all my stuff into a<br />

spare Shop, as my regular ride<br />

has been in the shop waiting on<br />

parts for over a week. Hmmm.<br />

New explorer and it actually<br />

still had that new car smell. I’m<br />

pretty sure I’m not going like this<br />

over my Charger, but it’s better<br />

than one of the 200,000+ mile<br />

Crown Vic’s out back.<br />

I logged in, told the dispatcher<br />

I was in service, and asked<br />

what she was holding. Obviously<br />

the Sarge had already<br />

called 911 to advise them we<br />

weren’t taking any report calls,<br />

because she started rattling off<br />

all the alarms calls that had<br />

gone unanswered from day<br />

shift. So, for the next couple<br />

of hours, I ran call after call<br />

clearing most unfounded or<br />

GOA as they had been holding<br />

for hours. Only 15 people had<br />

showed up for day shift.<br />

I kept monitoring the states<br />

channel and District 1’s traffic<br />

to see how bad it was downtown.<br />

It was almost nonstop<br />

with one incident after another.<br />

There were times I almost<br />

wanted to say fuck it and go<br />

help them. But I couldn’t leave<br />

9 guys to fend for themselves.<br />

I do remember around 2200hrs<br />

hearing the van carrying the city<br />

council members had departed<br />

downtown and was headed north.<br />

<strong>No</strong>thing like having a limo service<br />

to take you home after your protest<br />

appearance.<br />

At 2245, dispatch put out a major<br />

accident up on the interstate<br />

that involved a head-on collision<br />

and one vehicle off the bridge<br />

with entrapment. Well, what the<br />

hell. I made a U-turn and headed<br />

that way, hoping to God that<br />

Fire & Rescue beat me there. Less<br />

than five minutes later, I pulled<br />

up to pure carnage in the middle<br />

of the highway and not a single<br />

rescue truck in sight. I could not<br />

even identify what type of car this<br />

was. I was met by a young woman<br />

dressed in scrubs and obviously a<br />

doctor or nurse.<br />

She said “the driver was DOA<br />

when I got here, there was nothing<br />

I could do. I think the other vehicle<br />

ran off the highway and down<br />

the embankment,” pointing to<br />

the broken guardrail.<br />

I advised dispatch I needed<br />

the ME and began looking for<br />

the second vehicle. As the two<br />

of us looked over what was left<br />

of the guardrail, I saw the second<br />

vehicle, upside down at the<br />

bottom of the hill, and on fire. As<br />

I ran back to my unit to grab a<br />

fire extinguisher, I yelled for the<br />

nurse to send the Fire Dept. down<br />

to me as soon as they arrived. I<br />

could hear sirens and fire trucks<br />

in the distance, and I hoped they<br />

were seconds, not minutes away.<br />

As I ran down the hill screaming<br />

at the dispatcher to get me<br />

help. I had what looked like<br />

a transport van with multiple<br />

victims inside. The first person<br />

I came upon was covered in<br />

blood and grabbed my arm and<br />

said, “officer there are six more<br />

in the van, please get them out.”<br />

92 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 93


When he looked up at me, I was<br />

shocked to see it was the Mayor.<br />

Sir, who’s in that van.<br />

“The entire city council and my<br />

aide. He was driving”<br />

Well fuck me. I used up the<br />

fire extinguisher within about 30<br />

seconds and knocked some of<br />

the engine fire out, but I knew I<br />

had mere seconds to get these<br />

people out before the van would<br />

be totally engulfed. I pulled the<br />

driver out first and one by one,<br />

I pulled the others out. I drug<br />

them 25-30 feet up the hill side.<br />

The flames were already past<br />

the driver’s seat when I went<br />

back in for the final passenger.<br />

She looked at me with the<br />

most frightened look and said,<br />

‘please don’t let me die” But her<br />

leg was pinned under the seat<br />

in front of her and there was no<br />

way I could move it by myself.<br />

At that very second, I felt a hand<br />

on my shoulder and turn to see<br />

my sergeant standing over me.<br />

Without saying a word, he pulled<br />

on the bottom of the broken seat<br />

and I pulled as hard as I could<br />

on the councilwoman and got<br />

her leg free. We both drug her<br />

up the hill as the van exploded<br />

behind us. I could feel the heat<br />

and smell my vest melting from<br />

the flames that were less than a<br />

foot way.<br />

When I picked myself up, I<br />

saw dozens of firemen and EMTs<br />

running towards us. Within minutes,<br />

the fire was out and rescue<br />

workers, EMTs, firemen, troopers<br />

and all nine district cars were<br />

on the scene helping. I heard the<br />

helicopter overhead as dozens<br />

of ambulances began arriving. It<br />

was about that time that I guess<br />

the adrenaline was starting to<br />

fade when I felt my neck burning<br />

and realized that the explosion<br />

has sent pieces of burning<br />

plastic flying through the air, of<br />

which a small piece had landed<br />

on the back of my neck and<br />

upper back.<br />

As I walked over to the ambulance<br />

that was treating the<br />

mayor, I jumped inside and asked<br />

how he was doing. He was an<br />

older man and I thought for sure<br />

he was having a heart attack. He<br />

turned his head away from the<br />

constant questions of the EMTs<br />

and looked at me, held his hand<br />

up to me. I grabbed his hand and<br />

said, “are you alright Mr. Mayor?”<br />

With tears in his eyes, he said<br />

“I’m so sorry, I’m just so sorry.<br />

We made a terrible mistake. I<br />

made a terrible mistake.”<br />

What mistake sir, this was an<br />

accident. It wasn’t your fault. The<br />

driver of the car that hit you was<br />

going the wrong way. He didn’t<br />

make it sir, I’m sorry. But you’re<br />

going to be ok.<br />

“<strong>No</strong> officer, I’m not. I’m just so<br />

sorry. Please forgive me.”<br />

What are you saying, what are<br />

you sorry for? What mistake?<br />

“I thought we could get by<br />

without you, without the police. I<br />

thought it was the right thing to<br />

do, but I was wrong. You saved<br />

my life tonight. You saved the<br />

entire city council. You could<br />

have just left us inside that van.<br />

You didn’t have to risk your life<br />

to save the very people that said<br />

you didn’t matter. I’m just so very<br />

sorry. Please, please forgive us.”<br />

“Officer, we have to go,” said<br />

the EMT, “and you need to come<br />

to the hospital and let us look at<br />

that burn on your neck.”<br />

Okay. I’ll see you up there. And<br />

take care of him, he’s, our mayor.<br />

I slammed the door and tapped<br />

the back to let them know they<br />

were good to go. I walked back<br />

to the scene where the deceased<br />

driver was still sitting behind<br />

what was left of his car just as<br />

they were placing a plastic sheet<br />

across the top. My sergeant was<br />

talking to the trooper and turned<br />

to say something, but no words<br />

were spoken. He didn’t have to<br />

say anything. The look on his<br />

face said it all.<br />

Only by the grace of GOD were<br />

we able to save these people.<br />

GOD decided that the wrong way<br />

driver didn’t deserve a second<br />

chance. The van driver, mayor<br />

and city council all suffered<br />

serious, but non-life-threatening<br />

injuries. My neck had first and<br />

second-degree burns, but I’ll live.<br />

We do what we do, regardless<br />

of what people may think of us.<br />

Our job is to protect the people<br />

we serve. It doesn’t matter<br />

whether they like us, support<br />

us or even want us to be their<br />

police. We do it because it’s our<br />

sworn duty. We do it because it’s<br />

the right thing to do. We do it as<br />

God’s servants and his children.<br />

We do it because WE ARE THE<br />

PEACEMAKERS.<br />

EDITOR: It’s unknown what if any<br />

impact or changes this accident had<br />

on the mayor and city council of<br />

this city. It’s unknown if they intend<br />

to reverse their decision on future<br />

policing needs. What is known is<br />

that this officer and his sergeant<br />

were both awarded the Medal of<br />

Valor. It’s the highest decoration for<br />

bravery a police officer can receive<br />

and is comparable to the military’s<br />

Medal of Honor. Their actions saved<br />

the lives of eight people including<br />

the bus driver, the mayor and six city<br />

council men and women. The deceased<br />

driver had a BAC of .24%.<br />

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94 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE<br />

The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 95<br />

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CLICK TO WATCH<br />

THE OPEN ROAD<br />

by Michael Barron<br />

MSP Ranks the Fastest<br />

Police Vehicles of 2022<br />

The Michigan State Police held<br />

its annual police vehicle tests<br />

in September and has released<br />

the full report of all 2022 model<br />

year vehicles and motorcycles<br />

tested.<br />

The Michigan State Police has<br />

been testing police cars since<br />

the 1950s. Successful test results<br />

from MSP and the Los Angeles<br />

Sheriff’s Department validate<br />

manufacturers’ engineering efforts<br />

in building a car capable of<br />

handling the stresses associated<br />

with police pursuits. The MSP<br />

recommends that agencies apply<br />

the information to the needs of<br />

their departments.<br />

Vehicles are tested on acceleration,<br />

top speed, braking, and<br />

dynamics. This year, the police<br />

vehicles tested were:<br />

Chevrolet Tahoe 5.3L RWD<br />

Chevrolet Tahoe 5.3L 4WD<br />

Dodge Charger 3.6L AWD<br />

Dodge Charger 5.7L RWD<br />

Dodge Durango 3.6L AWD<br />

Dodge Durango 5.7L AWD<br />

Ford Police Interceptor Utility Hybrid AWD<br />

Ford Police Interceptor Utility 3L EcoBoost AWD<br />

Ford Police Interceptor Utility 3.3L AWD<br />

Ford F-150 Police Responder 3.5L EcoBoost<br />

Ford Mustang Mach-E AWD<br />

For vehicle dynamics, the Ford PIU<br />

3L EcoBoost AWD had the fastest<br />

average lap speed of 1:36:01. The<br />

second fastest was the Dodge Charger<br />

5.7L RWD, with an average of<br />

1:36:43.<br />

The Ford Police Interceptor Utility<br />

3L EcoBoost AWD had the fastest<br />

average lap speed.<br />

The Ford Police Interceptor Utility<br />

3L EcoBoost AWD had the fastest<br />

average lap speed.<br />

For the acceleration test, the<br />

Mach-E achieved the fastest 0-60<br />

mph and 0-100 mph at 4.03 seconds<br />

and 11.94 seconds. This was<br />

followed by the PIU 3L EcoBoost at<br />

5.45 seconds and 13.47 seconds. The<br />

PIU 3L EcoBoost was the fastest vehicle<br />

tested, achieving a top speed<br />

of 148 mph, followed by the two<br />

Chargers, which tied at 139 mph.<br />

During brake testing, the Mach-E<br />

had the shortest projected stopping<br />

distance from 60 mph of all vehicles<br />

tested (125 feet), followed by<br />

the Chevrolet Tahoe 5.3L RWD at<br />

129.1 feet.<br />

Vehicles were also rated for<br />

ergonomics and communications<br />

— officers provide scores for the<br />

ergonomics section, while another<br />

team determines the difficulty of<br />

installing required communications<br />

and emergency warning equipment.<br />

In communications, the Dodge<br />

Durango scored highest (9.78 points<br />

out of 10), with top scores in dashboard<br />

accessibility, trunk accessibility,<br />

and in the engine compartment.<br />

This was followed by the Ford PIU<br />

with 9.44 points.<br />

In the ergonomics category,<br />

taking into consideration comfort,<br />

convenience, instrumentation,<br />

and visibility, the Chevrolet Tahoe<br />

ranked highest with 8.74 points out<br />

of 10, followed by the F-150 Police<br />

Responder with 8.44 points.<br />

As for fuel economy, the Mach-E<br />

has an estimated 84 MPGe. The PIU<br />

Hybrid is projected to deliver 24 MPG<br />

combined. Among the traditional<br />

gasoline-powered vehicles, the<br />

Charger 3.6L AWD and the Durango<br />

3.6L AWD tied at 21 MPG combined.<br />

96 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 97


A BADGE OF HONOR<br />

COMING SUMMER 2022<br />

healing our heroes<br />

And the Beat Goes On<br />

In 2020 and 2021 law enforcement<br />

Several departments implement-<br />

experienced the highest rates ed mandatory overtime leading<br />

of retirement and resignations. to a myriad of heath issues like<br />

The defund the police movements, stress and burnout. “Every once<br />

COVID mandates, the elimination in a while, after working long and<br />

of qualified immunity, and judges sometimes grueling shifts, after<br />

who refuse to prosecute are just a<br />

getting yelled at and spat on<br />

few of the reasons.<br />

and occasionally having plastic So even with full recruit classes<br />

Is there hope for the communities cups thrown at him, Officer Brian like the one I was with in Dallas,<br />

that are pleading to get their police Vaughan feels so worn down that is it enough to bring departments<br />

force back?<br />

he wonders if being a cop is still back to full strength to be able<br />

I stand in front of a full recruit worth it.” https://www.gpb.org/ to serve their communities? It is<br />

class in Dallas, Texas. Half a dozen news/2021/06/14/violence-stress-<br />

difficult to predict the future, but if<br />

of them carrying on a family tradition<br />

scrutiny-weigh-on-police-mental-<br />

cities continue to undervalue their<br />

of law enforcement service, health<br />

police officers and the services<br />

another six are veterans and or Some departments are taking the they provide, the mass exodus will<br />

serve in the National Guard. When I initiative, bringing in organizations likely continue making it impossible<br />

ask, “Why now?” The overwhelming<br />

like A Badge of Honor to help. The<br />

for departments to catch<br />

response, “I want to serve my departments that recognize the up, keeping the revolving door of<br />

community.”<br />

added stresses on the sworn officers<br />

waiting for academy classes recruits spinning and some cities<br />

outgoing officers and incoming<br />

FOREWORD<br />

To those that wore it, no explanation is necessary. For life behind the badge is like no other. It is a line that once<br />

Some of you reading this may<br />

you cross, you can never go back. The line between right and wrong, happiness and sadness, and finally life and<br />

think, well of course, it is Texas to graduate, and who offer training wondering if they will ever be able<br />

death.<br />

and majority of cities support their and or professional help without to get ahead of their out of control<br />

It isn't for everyone, nor should it be. God created it, not for those who chose it, but for those that are chosen. It<br />

police departments. The answer the fear of reprisals are starting crime rates.<br />

is these brave souls who trade their happiness, their security, their fears, their love, and even their life for you.<br />

is yes, and no. Get out of the cities to gain a foothold. With funds And the beat goes on…<br />

When life itself is in question they must answer. When death is imminent, they must stand tall. In the face of<br />

like Dallas, Austin, and Houston and through the Law Enforcement<br />

danger, they must endure. When all is said and done, there really isn't much that separates us from them, but a thin<br />

the support is there. The big cities<br />

however are suffering attrition even had the opportunity to bring contributor to The <strong>Blues</strong> Police Mag-<br />

•••<br />

Mental Health Act, agencies have Samantha Horwitz is a regular<br />

blue line.<br />

Being a cop meant everything to me. It was something I dreamed of as a kid. <strong>No</strong>, my parents weren’t cops but<br />

rates never seen before. For example,<br />

in Austin, Texas, the police de-<br />

create peer support teams. “The former United States Secret Service<br />

on mental health practitioners and azine. She is a 9/11 first responder,<br />

my grandfather was. He was my hero and someday I wanted to walk in his footsteps.<br />

I remember the day the notice came in the mail that said I'd been accepted into the Police Academy. It was<br />

partment experienced ninety-seven<br />

retirements in 2020 and in the police officers is peer support. and her business partner, retired<br />

and changed in a way that would never be the same. Once that badge is pinned on, life itself is suddenly different.<br />

biggest choosing of services for Agent, speaker, and author. She<br />

the happiest day of my life or so I thought. <strong>No</strong>w that I look back, I'm sure it was definitely the day my life changed<br />

first quarter of 2021, a whopping Three out four would rather go to firefighter and NYPD detective John<br />

It starts out as euphoric, on top of the world and invincible. Later it becomes one of disgust, then mistrust, finally<br />

forty-five. https://pjmedia.com/ peer support than any other kind Salerno created A Badge of Honor,<br />

resentment. Your entire perspective changes and never again is life and death seen in the same light. You see how<br />

news-and-politics/bryan-pres-<br />

of services out there.” Says Sherri a 501(c)(3), post-traumatic stress<br />

precious life is and how fast it can be taken and by those who have little or no respect for it. Life behind the badge<br />

ton/2021/04/06/exclusive-exo-<br />

Martin, National Wellness Director, awareness and suicide prevention<br />

is many things to many people. All are affected by it. Some good, some bad, some you just never know. You’ve<br />

probably heard that life as a cop, is hours and hours of boredom interrupted by seconds of sheer terror. It’s more<br />

dus-underway-as-record-shatter-<br />

National Fraternal Order of Police. program for first responders. John<br />

like years of boredom, interrupted by hours of terror. At one time or another we all remember being scared. Really<br />

ing-surge-of-austin-police-offi-<br />

cers-leave-the-force-n14377<strong>38</strong> this proactive approach, officers ence) Radio, Wednesday 7pm central<br />

it. When it comes, it comes in slow motion almost surreal. What seems like hours happens in seconds and lasts for<br />

And the beat goes on…Even with and Sam host MAD (Making a Differ-<br />

scared, so scared you're literally in suspended animation awaiting what surely must be the end of life as you know<br />

And the beat goes on…Those have said they simply do not have live on FB @Makingadifferencetx.<br />

years. They say fear is good, but true fear the kind that hangs in the air like the smell of ozone after a lightning strike<br />

answering the call to serve are time to engage in peer support or For more about Sam & John and the<br />

is anything but healthy.<br />

filling the gaps. But at what cost? training, feeling torn between getting<br />

wellness and resiliency workshops<br />

But those who live without fear aren't really living. They've accepted their own demise and are simply waiting for<br />

sleep, and their roles as moms, for first responders, visit ABadgeof-<br />

the bus to take them home. And that's one bus you don't want to get on.<br />

The massive departures left departments<br />

scrambling to fill shifts. dads, and spouses.<br />

Honor.com.<br />

•••<br />

CLICK OR SCAN HERE<br />

The following chapters take you through a cop’s world. A world of pimps and whores, lovers and killers, robbers<br />

98 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE and rapists, muggers and burglars, and just plain thieves. But be forewarned. What The BLUES maybe POLICE be erotic MAGAZINE one minute 99<br />

can be deadly the next. For see in their world, life is just as long as the turn of the next page.


DARYL LOTT<br />

daryl’s deliberations<br />

Forget the Alamo? Hell NO!<br />

This essay is in response to the<br />

progressive book entitled “Forget<br />

the Alamo” or, more accurately,<br />

the publisher’s summary of the<br />

book. <strong>No</strong>t wanting to support any<br />

left wing revisionist book, I would<br />

not purchase the book. Therefore,<br />

I read the publisher’s summary<br />

about the thesis of the book and<br />

the free excerpts provided by Amazon.<br />

One of the authors is employed<br />

by the Houston Chronicle as<br />

a writer of left wing rhetoric. The<br />

Chronicle Editorial Board supports<br />

him and enthusiastically endorses<br />

the book. The thesis of the book<br />

is that the Texas Revolution was<br />

caused by slavery and the legendary<br />

stories of the Alamo, Goliad,<br />

and San Jacinto were all made<br />

up in the South later to celebrate<br />

“whiteness.” General Santa Anna<br />

was a crusading abolitionist while<br />

the heroes of the Alamo were motivated<br />

by the thought of becoming<br />

wealthy plantation owners with<br />

slavery as the fuel for their economic<br />

engines.<br />

In order to comprehend the 1820’s<br />

and 1830’s in our part of the world,<br />

one must clearly understand two<br />

tenets. First, the concept known as<br />

the “Right of Conquest.” The second<br />

critical thing to understand is<br />

that during this period of history<br />

Texas was under the control of<br />

the Comanche Indians, the most<br />

powerful Indian tribe in American<br />

history.<br />

The oldest right known to man<br />

is called “the right of conquest.”<br />

Imagine the man in the next cave<br />

beating the weaker caveman and<br />

taking his woman, kids, and cave<br />

as his own. The right of conquest is<br />

invoked. The right of conquest then<br />

advanced through the hundreds of<br />

thousands of centuries evolving to<br />

apply to neighbors, clans, settlements,<br />

tribes, villages, territories,<br />

cities, and nations. It is the one<br />

historical constant that has always<br />

been with mankind. It always will<br />

be. In <strong>No</strong>rth America the Right<br />

of Conquest was also known as<br />

“Manifest Destiny.”<br />

In modern society we are always<br />

on the defensive against our enemies<br />

by employing police officers<br />

to protect our homes and soldiers<br />

to protect our nation. Others are<br />

out there that would conquer us<br />

individually and collectively. The<br />

Marxist movement to defund the<br />

police is an example of criminals<br />

and their Marxist supporters<br />

wanting to weaken our first line<br />

of defense of the Rule of Law. The<br />

right of conquest is always in play.<br />

It is literally in our DNA so it cannot<br />

be neatly delegated to the dustbin<br />

of history. Biology, particularly<br />

masculine biology, prepares for<br />

conflict at all times. As opposed<br />

to progressive Marxist assertions<br />

otherwise, biology cannot be contained<br />

or “identified” away.<br />

The Comanche Indians controlled<br />

Texas regardless of who was in<br />

Mexico City or, later, Washington<br />

DC. The Comanches were a fierce<br />

(read savage) and brutal enemy<br />

who subjugated other Indian tribes,<br />

Mexicans, Texians, and Americans.<br />

<strong>No</strong> army could match their skill<br />

as warriors. During this time the<br />

bow and arrow was a far superior<br />

weapon than the one shot musket.<br />

The one “super power” that the<br />

Comanche Indians had over any<br />

other tribe was they learned the art<br />

of domesticating that European resource:<br />

the horse. The Comanches<br />

were the only mounted Indians at<br />

this time. Comanche boys were<br />

expert archers and riders by the<br />

time they were ten. European military<br />

tactics dictated that soldiers<br />

fight dismounted. It worked against<br />

eastern Indians who had no horses,<br />

but the Comanches made that<br />

strategy obsolete. The Comanches<br />

could ride their horses hundreds of<br />

miles without stopping. They could<br />

navigate the vast grassland prairie<br />

that was Texas by following the<br />

Buffalo trails of crushed grass and<br />

scrubby trees. They enslaved many<br />

of their captives (they were slave<br />

holders). In short, the Comanches<br />

were the real power in Texas and<br />

they had no equals in living off the<br />

land, horsemanship, archery, navigation,<br />

combat, and decentralized<br />

leadership. They recognized their<br />

own right of conquest.<br />

Immanuel Kant, a German philosopher<br />

of the late 18th Century,<br />

famously said that man’s natural<br />

state is war as opposed to peace.<br />

If we are not actively engaged in<br />

making war, we are preparing for<br />

it or<br />

watching our rivals prepare for<br />

it. It is natural for us to do this<br />

because since the beginning of<br />

time we either conquer or we are<br />

conquered. There is no stasis when<br />

it comes to this.<br />

In 1810, Father Hidalgo launched<br />

an insurrection against Spanish<br />

rule in Mexico. The Spaniards,<br />

however, were very distracted<br />

by Napoleon Bonaparte and the<br />

person he placed on the Spanish<br />

throne. This civil revolutionary war<br />

lasted until 1821 when the Spanish<br />

gave up Mexico. The Mexicans began<br />

work on a constitution and one<br />

was approved in 1824.<br />

Americans had been presented<br />

land grants through Moses Austin<br />

from the Spanish, but that deal fell<br />

through after the Mexicans won<br />

independence from Spain. Moses<br />

Austin died and his son, Stephen<br />

F. Austin, took up the effort. The<br />

first ruler of Mexico after the new<br />

constitution was an emperor. He<br />

approved the colonization, but<br />

abdicated the throne because an<br />

emperor was not what the Mexicans<br />

wanted. That deal, again, fell<br />

through.<br />

The 1824 constitution was unique.<br />

It was not based on the U.S. Constitution.<br />

For example, the Catholic<br />

Church was the state church in the<br />

constitution. Regarding “states’<br />

rights”, it was unusual. Mexican<br />

states were granted authority relative<br />

to their distance from Mexico<br />

City. The thinking was that states<br />

close to the capital did not need<br />

as much autonomy as ones that<br />

were far away. Texas did not have<br />

a large enough population to be a<br />

state so it was joined to Coahuila<br />

to form the Mexican state of “Coahuila<br />

y Tejas.” Because the state<br />

was far away from Mexico City, it<br />

had autonomy. The state granted<br />

Austin the authority to bring Americans<br />

into Texas. He did so.<br />

The reasoning of the Mexican<br />

government was based on the<br />

inadequacy of Spanish colonization<br />

all over the world. To see the inadequacy,<br />

one needs to see the Spanish<br />

model and British model side<br />

by side. The British model called<br />

for the introduction of settlers<br />

from Europe in order to populate<br />

the land. The settlers would continue<br />

to invite families and friends<br />

to come across the ocean. The British<br />

set their colonies up in a long<br />

view with people as their greatest<br />

resource. The Spanish, by contrast,<br />

sent people from Spain to exploit<br />

the resources of the New World<br />

using an enslaved local population<br />

as labor. The Spaniards would then<br />

return home leaving their colonies<br />

unpopulated. This is what led to<br />

Mexico’s predicament with Texas.<br />

Mexico needed to populate Texas,<br />

but the Comanches basically killed<br />

everyone who came up from Mexico.<br />

Mexico turned to the Anglos to<br />

come to Texas as garrison settlers<br />

to fight the Comanches and settle<br />

Mexico’s northern frontier. The Anglo<br />

settlers had experience settling<br />

an area with hostile Indians. The<br />

Mexicans referred to Texas as “Comancheria”<br />

and expected that the<br />

Anglos would create a buffer zone<br />

between the Indians and Mexico.<br />

The Texians, as they referred<br />

to themselves, received vast land<br />

grants and protected property<br />

rights from the state of Coahuila y<br />

Tejas. Of course, property rights,<br />

sadly, included enslaved people.<br />

The Constitution of 1824 was the<br />

instrument that granted the state<br />

the right to grant property to the<br />

100 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 101


American settlers. This was thrown<br />

out in favor of a new constitution<br />

that denied property rights to<br />

Texian settlers. This caused a loss<br />

of property (including enslaved<br />

people) that hurt the settlers. Many<br />

of these people had land grants for<br />

over 1000 acres of Texas land. Many<br />

of the Texians had already invested<br />

heavily in their land, including shed<br />

blood. Many, if not most, of the<br />

settlers had no slaves, but they had<br />

property in the form of very large<br />

tracts of land.<br />

The authors of “Forget the Alamo”<br />

would have us believe that<br />

the new constitution’s abolition of<br />

slavery was the proximate cause<br />

of the Texas Revolution and, therefore,<br />

the heroes of the Alamo are<br />

not heroes at all. Actually, it was<br />

the loss of all property (including<br />

slaves) and the state’s right to<br />

grant property that were the reasons<br />

why the Texians rebelled.<br />

The Texians considered themselves<br />

to be a part of America’s<br />

Manifest Destiny. Travis’ inspirational<br />

letter from the Alamo was<br />

addressed “To the People of Texas<br />

and All Americans in the World.”<br />

Texian settlers were mostly from<br />

the southern United States and the<br />

minute that they set foot in Texas<br />

they had to earn their land by<br />

fighting the Comanches for it. They<br />

were basically in a war zone and<br />

many of them paid with their lives.<br />

Yes, there was tremendous opportunity<br />

to be had, but the dangers<br />

were not insignificant.<br />

The authors of the book set forth<br />

the notion that some Alamo defenders<br />

were captured alive and<br />

then executed and this should<br />

deflate the myth of the Alamo.<br />

First, we need to understand what<br />

“myth” is. It is critically important<br />

to know that mythology can be<br />

literally true or it may be figuratively<br />

true. It is not an insult to call<br />

something a “myth.” Myths contain<br />

any people group’s values and are<br />

extremely important in studying<br />

people.<br />

The Alamo Myth is that heroes<br />

gave their lives unselfishly in an effort<br />

to carry on the dream of an independent<br />

Texas for their families<br />

and Americans who would settle<br />

the land. The authors of the book<br />

believe that the myth should be<br />

“forgotten” and that it was created<br />

in the Jim Crow South to celebrate<br />

the White race. They put forth the<br />

notion that David Crockett and others<br />

did not go down fighting as the<br />

myth states. They base this belief<br />

on unconfirmed diary entries from<br />

the Mexican side of the battle. Texas<br />

A&M University, by contrast, has<br />

a first person account from another<br />

Mexican veteran (Felix Nuñez)<br />

who said that there was a very tall<br />

person wearing a round hat with a<br />

long “fox tail” who was still standing<br />

as the battle was ending. Eight<br />

lifeless Mexican soldiers lay at his<br />

feet. Other Mexican soldiers were<br />

dumbstruck by this sight when a<br />

Mexican lieutenant rushed up and<br />

smashed a sword over the right<br />

brow of the Alamo defender, killing<br />

him. Let us just say that there are<br />

conflicting reports on this, but it is<br />

irrelevant in the long run because<br />

it doesn’t affect the myth as the<br />

authors claim it does.<br />

I personally believe Señor Nunez<br />

because the conscripted Mexican<br />

Indian soldiers had seen atrocities<br />

committed in other parts of Mexico<br />

by their madman dictator and they<br />

did not want to disobey an order<br />

from Santa Anna.<br />

I have said all of this to point out<br />

an existential threat to our country.<br />

The Marxist Left has us questioning<br />

our heroes and mythology because<br />

it knows that heroism is a cultural<br />

marker that shows us what we<br />

live for and for what we will die.<br />

Heroism itself is now politically<br />

incorrect. When I say politically<br />

incorrect, I am not referring to<br />

courtesy at a dinner party where<br />

people have different political<br />

beliefs. I am referring to the chilling<br />

effect of the loss of freedom<br />

of speech in any matter that does<br />

not match left wing ideology. The<br />

Left claims to be inclusive, but it is<br />

actually extremely intolerant. The<br />

politics of perpetual victimhood<br />

points specifically to white people<br />

and wants us to display one trait:<br />

shame. We should be ashamed<br />

of Crockett, Bowie, Travis, and the<br />

other Alamo defenders.<br />

Of course, the Marxists use the<br />

convenient issue of slavery as a<br />

litmus test because nothing or<br />

nobody can stand up to it. One was<br />

either a slave owner or one tolerated<br />

slavery. That entangles all<br />

of our Founding Fathers, including<br />

those of Texas. One can easily see<br />

where this is going. Since the issue<br />

occurred in our distant past, there<br />

is nothing that we as white people<br />

(or any person who values our<br />

heroes) can do except relinquish<br />

our positions, rights, and property.<br />

Calling Santa Anna an abolitionist<br />

ignores the fact that Santa Anna<br />

conscripted people as servants<br />

or soldiers against their will. The<br />

Constitution of 1824 prevented<br />

“chattle slavery,” but did nothing<br />

to help the victims of other forms<br />

of slavery that were practiced in<br />

Mexico.<br />

In history, this is called the<br />

“Hegelian Dialectic.” Basically,<br />

this philosophical tenet of history<br />

says that one group (it could be<br />

the government) creates an issue<br />

where there is none. Then a<br />

“solution” spontaneously pops up<br />

and the people, thinking that they<br />

cleverly thought of the “solution”<br />

themselves, clamor for the solution.<br />

Contributing to BLM, teaching<br />

CRT in public schools, accepting<br />

“White privilege”, and “Forgetting<br />

the Alamo” are all part of the solution<br />

in the dialectic formula.<br />

<strong>No</strong>t recognizing the Right of<br />

Conquest is a critical error which<br />

presupposes that one’s country<br />

will never itself be the object of<br />

another’s conquest. All countries<br />

rise and fall. Period. A country<br />

where heroism and self defense<br />

are politically incorrect should be<br />

placed on suicide watch.<br />

In 9 A.D. a Roman general named<br />

Varus led an entire legion into the<br />

Teutoburg Forest. The Romans<br />

never made it back out. The legion<br />

was lost to an ambush by<br />

the Germanic barbarians who<br />

lived on the northern frontier of<br />

the Roman Empire. The Romans<br />

started recruiting barbarians to<br />

garrison their frontier and keep a<br />

buffer zone between Rome and the<br />

Teutoburg Forest. Even the vaunted<br />

Roman Legion was no match for<br />

the savage barbarians who called<br />

<strong>No</strong>rthern Europe home. These same<br />

barbarians would enter Rome in<br />

476 as the new masters relying<br />

on the Right of Conquest for their<br />

claim.<br />

The Mexicans committed the<br />

exact same critical error as the<br />

Romans did when they recruited<br />

foreigners to garrison their northern<br />

frontier to act as a buffer zone<br />

between Mexico and Comancheria.<br />

The Mexicans, like the Romans,<br />

grossly underestimated a people’s<br />

drive to reach their full potential<br />

when provided an opportunity. The<br />

Americans ultimately subjugated<br />

the Comanches, but it was not until<br />

after the Civil War when American<br />

cavalry units had the combat experience<br />

and weapons to fight from<br />

the saddle. They ran the Comanches<br />

down into Palo Duro Canyon<br />

and ended their threat.<br />

By Right of Conquest, the Americans<br />

had finally obtained a free<br />

Texas. There were no more slaves<br />

or slave holders. All people would<br />

incrementally receive the full<br />

rights of citizenship regardless of<br />

race, religion, gender, or ethnicity,<br />

including the Comanches. <strong>No</strong><br />

other conquering nation can say<br />

that. <strong>No</strong>rmally, the fate of a people<br />

group that loses a war is bare, but<br />

America provides opportunity for<br />

all. This is exactly why America<br />

remains the Holy Grail of immigration.<br />

I, for one, am not ashamed of<br />

my ancestors. I revere the heroes<br />

of my youth and am thankful<br />

for the sacrifices that they made.<br />

Judging them by modern standards<br />

and sensibilities is unfair and<br />

unproductive. Were they racists<br />

by today’s standards? Yes, but be<br />

assured that they were living in a<br />

different world. The words “racist”<br />

and “ racism” wouldn’t even<br />

be invented for over a hundred<br />

more years (mid 20th Century). The<br />

defenders of the Alamo wouldn’t<br />

recognize concepts those 20th<br />

Century words convey. If your ancestors<br />

were enslaved people, they,<br />

too, are heroes of mine. They gave<br />

all they had in the hopes that one<br />

day their descendants would enjoy<br />

the walk of a free people in a land<br />

that they also pioneered.<br />

I think back on the Alamo and<br />

I don’t see the sanitized version<br />

of Hollywood or Disney films. I<br />

see men fighting for their lives<br />

smashing skulls, gouging out eyes,<br />

spilling their guts into the dirt, and<br />

cannonballs and lead shot taking<br />

limbs and lives. Señor Nuñez’<br />

account states that the battlefield<br />

was so bloody, smoky, and dirty<br />

that it was difficult to tell the Texian<br />

bodies from the Mexican ones.<br />

The difference, he said, was critical<br />

because the Mexicans did not<br />

want their soldiers’ bodies burned<br />

as the Texian bodies were. This<br />

pertained to a Catholic belief at<br />

that time where cremation was not<br />

an approved method for Christian<br />

burial. That has since changed for<br />

Catholics, but it tends to support<br />

the Nuñez account of the battle’s<br />

end in my mind.<br />

The Alamo defenders knew that<br />

they would not survive. They knew<br />

they would never see their families<br />

or homes again. Slavery was the<br />

last thing on their minds. These<br />

heroes did not fall asleep. They<br />

sold their lives at a steep cost taking<br />

many of Santa Anna’s officers<br />

and non-commissioned officers<br />

with them. At San Jacinto the loss<br />

of his experienced soldiers meant<br />

his army couldn’t get organized<br />

when General Houston arrived and<br />

he lost the most decisive battle in<br />

world history after only 18 short<br />

minutes.<br />

As the Texian soldiers ran across<br />

the San Jacinto peninsula, Santa<br />

Anna’s cowardly ears could hear<br />

the battle cry that formed Texas,<br />

“Remember Goliad! Remember the<br />

Alamo!”<br />

I certainly will remember Goliad,<br />

the Alamo, and San Jacinto.<br />

<strong>No</strong>t only will I remember, I will<br />

never kneel or disrespect the flag<br />

of Texas or the United States as<br />

the progressive Marxists would<br />

have me do. I recognize their attacks<br />

on our history as more than<br />

symbolic attacks on our nation<br />

itself. It’s disgraceful. As I remember<br />

the Alamo I know that the<br />

_______________ (fill in the<br />

blank, Russians, Chinese, Arabs,<br />

Iranians, etc) are all watching the<br />

emasculation of America by the<br />

Left and are licking their chops<br />

thinking about the Right of Conquest<br />

that is always in play. The<br />

good news is that there are more<br />

of us who remember the Alamo<br />

than those who want to forget it. A<br />

lot more.<br />

For further reading: Empire of the<br />

Summer Moon, by S. C. Gwynne and<br />

Last Stands: Why Men Fight When<br />

All Is Lost by Michael Walsh<br />

102 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 103


HOUSTON POLICE OFFICERS UNION<br />

from the president<br />

New Year doesn’t have the start we wanted –<br />

the manpower shortage And discipline policies<br />

that directly relate to the morale of all of us<br />

Members, I know that we<br />

have all had a long couple<br />

of weeks. With Redbook<br />

closures, COVID, mandatory<br />

overtime, it is obviously not<br />

the start we wanted to a new<br />

year.<br />

I don’t want to be a downer,<br />

but it appears that this may<br />

not end anytime soon.<br />

Manpower and discipline<br />

are still the largest issues on<br />

the minds of our members.<br />

We work constantly to try to<br />

remedy the issues when they<br />

come into the office. Some<br />

we can fix and some we can’t.<br />

Manpower will not be fixed<br />

for years, as it is getting harder<br />

and harder to find qualified<br />

applicants. We are continually<br />

working on the discipline<br />

issue and hope we get the department<br />

to understand that<br />

discipline is directly related to<br />

the morale of the department.<br />

Until we fix these issues, we<br />

will continue to lose good<br />

officers.<br />

Patrol is relying on a large<br />

number of younger officers to<br />

be the crimefighters. At every<br />

station you can see that<br />

the senior officers are getting<br />

younger and younger.<br />

I know a lot of older officers<br />

will criticize these young officers,<br />

talking about this “new<br />

generation.” But I am confident<br />

that the new generation<br />

of officers will continue to be<br />

dedicated to the job.<br />

I am proud of every single<br />

officer – veteran or rookie<br />

– who is out there running<br />

and gunning even in this time<br />

where we are a single call<br />

away from being injured or indicted.<br />

You are all impressive<br />

and I am very proud to be your<br />

representative as the president<br />

of our Union.<br />

With everything going on,<br />

we still have officers willing<br />

to answer the call when<br />

the time comes. The officers<br />

involved in the shootout last<br />

week were not only brave, but<br />

very impressive in the way<br />

that took the fight to the suspect.<br />

Even wounded by gunshots<br />

all three did everything<br />

they could to get back into the<br />

fight.<br />

This suspect was very violent<br />

and had no problem<br />

shooting it out with our officers.<br />

Even when surrounded<br />

he wanted a gunfight, and our<br />

SWAT guys were well trained<br />

DOUGLAS GRIFFITH<br />

and prepared. They engaged<br />

the suspect at his home where<br />

he fled to.<br />

The SWAT team did an unbelievable<br />

job “encouraging”<br />

him to surrender.<br />

I made the scene where the<br />

officers were shot and spoke<br />

with each of them at the<br />

hospital. They were amazing!<br />

All were in good spirits and<br />

joking with me in their rooms.<br />

We will continue to monitor<br />

their recovery.<br />

Each of these officers as<br />

well as those who assisted in<br />

getting them to the hospital<br />

are real HEROS!<br />

I am honored to represent<br />

you all! Stay safe out there!<br />

REPRINTED FROM THE HPOU<br />

BADGE & GUN<br />

104 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 105


NOT SO BRIGHT AWARD<br />

light bulb award<br />

REVERSE LIGHT BULB AWARD<br />

GOES TO STEVE RADACK<br />

By Michael Barron<br />

So, last month’s Harris County<br />

Commissioner’s Court meeting<br />

was ANYTHING but business as<br />

usual!!! Although a familiar face<br />

entered the room, the entrance<br />

came from the opposite side of<br />

the Courtroom, and it was only<br />

cordial for about 17 seconds or<br />

so.<br />

Retired Commissioner Steve<br />

Radack is an Institution of sorts<br />

in Harris County. His many years<br />

on the Court earned him accolade<br />

after accolade. On this day,<br />

he politely walked up to the podium,<br />

said a few nostalgic words<br />

and then he let loose with both<br />

barrels into the County Judge,<br />

Commissioner Garcia and Commissioner<br />

Ellis.<br />

To put into reference because<br />

Radack was angry, you have look<br />

back at the history and legacy he<br />

left behind. Most only know of<br />

him as a County Commissioner.<br />

But before he became a commissioner,<br />

he was a County Constable.<br />

Years ago, he ran against a<br />

notorious Constable by the name<br />

of Tracey Maxon. Even though<br />

Maxon had his share of personal<br />

problems and subsequent criminal<br />

investigations, he is remembered<br />

for one historic change<br />

in Harris County. Maxon was the<br />

“Creator” of the Contract Deputy<br />

Program<br />

in Harris<br />

County<br />

and<br />

for that<br />

matter,<br />

the entire<br />

State of<br />

Texas.<br />

<strong>No</strong>t only<br />

did he<br />

start the<br />

Contract Deputy Program, but he<br />

also created a Traffic & Patrol<br />

Division for the Constables as<br />

well. Prior to these new entities,<br />

all the Constables in Harris<br />

County were primarily serving<br />

civil process. Patrol and traffic<br />

duties were left up to the Sheriff.<br />

Needless to say, Jack Heard,<br />

the sheriff at the time, wasn’t too<br />

pleased that monies that should<br />

have gone to HIS department,<br />

were being funneled to his rival<br />

in the west end of Harris County.<br />

But Constable Maxon’s failure<br />

to maintain control over his<br />

personnel and his own personal<br />

affairs, led to a packed ballot<br />

come election time. And one of<br />

those opponents was a recently<br />

retired Houston Police Sergeant<br />

named Steve Radack. Radack<br />

lived in Pct. 5 (Constable Precinct)<br />

and was determined to<br />

unseat Maxon at any cost. His<br />

campaign focused on bringing<br />

discipline, order and continuity<br />

to the constable’s office. He won<br />

by a landslide. Maxon was out<br />

and Radack was in. For years<br />

Steve Radack ran the Harris<br />

County Pct. 5 Constable’s office<br />

with pride and integrity.<br />

He created a policy manual,<br />

instituted fleet maintenance<br />

protocols and expanded the contract<br />

deputy program. His tenure<br />

as Constable set the bar high,<br />

not only in Pct. 5 but for every<br />

Constable office across Harris<br />

County.<br />

Fast forward and Radack decided<br />

he wanted a seat at the<br />

big boy’s table and ran for Commissioner<br />

of Precinct 3 in Harris<br />

County. Once elected, with years<br />

of experience as Constable, he<br />

brought a new fiscal responsibility<br />

to the court. This was our<br />

money he was spending, and he<br />

acted responsibly doing it. There<br />

were moments of triumph and<br />

tribulation in his over thirty years<br />

as County Commissioner.<br />

Fast forward to last month’s<br />

Commissioners Court meeting.<br />

He blasted Dora the County<br />

Judge, Commissioner Garcia<br />

and Ellis for their lack of action<br />

and complete failure to support<br />

Harris County Law Enforcement.<br />

He pointed out specific moments<br />

whereby their actions, or<br />

inaction, directly and adversely<br />

affected every man and woman<br />

in Harris County, who dares to<br />

wear a badge.<br />

Radack launched an all out<br />

attack on the Democratic majority,<br />

blaming the trio for the<br />

breakdown of law and order in<br />

Harris County and accusing each<br />

of “having blood on their hands.”<br />

“Let me just express this as<br />

sincerely as I can, you are a<br />

disgrace. I never dreamed after<br />

32 years on this court that there<br />

would be three members of this<br />

court, Hidalgo, Garcia and Ellis<br />

who would kiss the rears of<br />

hardened criminals, who victimize<br />

law-abiding citizens, including<br />

law enforcement officers,”<br />

said Radack.<br />

“You are spending money everywhere<br />

on the dumbest things,<br />

but when it gets down to really<br />

protecting the citizens of this<br />

County you are A-W-O-L. I’m<br />

calling on you three to resign<br />

from office, so that the healing<br />

can begin.”<br />

He brought to light, their free<br />

and unchecked mismanagement<br />

of the County’s money, such as<br />

the 60 MILLION DOLLARS they<br />

spent for a COVID Field Hospital<br />

at NRG that was NEVER used.<br />

NOT ONCE. That’s right, not one<br />

COVID patient ever entered the<br />

$60M Field Hospital. Any idea<br />

just how far 60 million dollars<br />

would go to assist Harris County<br />

Law Enforcement? How about<br />

bullet proof windshields for all<br />

the patrol vehicles?<br />

He also pointed out NOT ONE<br />

TIME has County Judge “Dora”<br />

Hildago bothered to show up<br />

at Hermann Hospital when a<br />

County Officer had been shot<br />

or injured. Only in the past few<br />

months, has she made an appearance<br />

ironically just before<br />

her re-election bid. Radack<br />

specifically pointed out her “fake<br />

tears” last month on television<br />

for the tragic loss of Pct. 5 Deputy<br />

Galloway.<br />

He then directed his attention<br />

towards Commissioner Garcia,<br />

highlighting his service as<br />

a Houston Police Officer and<br />

former Harris County Sheriff.<br />

Radack pointed out the Commissioner’s<br />

lack of action and productivity<br />

as a Law Enforcement<br />

Officer and his lack of support<br />

for Harris County Deputies on the<br />

street today.<br />

Then it was Commissioner<br />

Ellis’ turn. Though short, he was<br />

poignant and direct. Commissioner<br />

Ellis’s anti-law enforcement<br />

rhetoric and ideology was<br />

directly responsible for the public’s<br />

distain for Harris County Law<br />

Enforcement Officers. His actions<br />

or lack thereof have placed every<br />

deputy in Harris County in imminent<br />

danger, and possible even<br />

the death of some.<br />

Anyone who witnessed or<br />

watched this two-and-ahalf-minute<br />

presentation, was<br />

shocked and stunned that Commissioner<br />

Radack would take<br />

the time to drive up to Houston<br />

and give these arrogant commissioners<br />

and judge a piece of<br />

his mind. But Radack loves Harris<br />

County and to see what it’s<br />

become because of these individuals;<br />

he couldn’t let it go. He<br />

stepped up and set his sights on<br />

the Judge and two commissioners<br />

he felt were responsible. His<br />

actions were, well unprecedented.<br />

They may have been unprecedented,<br />

but they were way<br />

overdue. On behalf of the staff<br />

here at the BLUES, all the men<br />

and women in Law Enforcement<br />

in Harris County and certainly for<br />

the surviving family members<br />

who’ve lost loved ones due to<br />

this War on Police, Radack is our<br />

hero.<br />

Commissioner Radack, you’ve<br />

done something no one else<br />

cared to do. Right the wrong at<br />

Commissioners Court. You’ve<br />

addressed what we’ve all seen<br />

become the norm across this<br />

country. Fuel the hatred for police<br />

and fail to support those that<br />

would give their lives for you.<br />

And you did so with the passion<br />

and drive that you brought to<br />

the Court every day you served.<br />

Either do your job or get the hell<br />

of this Court.<br />

With that, this month’s Light<br />

Bulb award is actually a first for<br />

The <strong>Blues</strong>…It’s a Reverse Light<br />

Bulb Award. Because for once,<br />

someone had such a profound<br />

idea that wasn’t well, dumb<br />

or stupid. It was in fact, well<br />

thought out and well executed.<br />

A sincere “Thank you” to former<br />

Commissioner, Constable,<br />

and Sergeant, Steve Radack for<br />

standing up for every citizen in<br />

Harris County and doing what<br />

everyone of us wanted to do.<br />

106 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 107


unning 4 heroes<br />

Total Miles Run in 2022: (as of 1/28/22): 33<br />

Total Miles Run in 2021: 325<br />

Total Miles Run in 2020: 401<br />

Total Miles Run in 2019: 376<br />

Overall Miles Run: 1,135<br />

- - - - - - - - - -<br />

2022 Run Stats:<br />

Total Miles Run for 2022 Fallen LEO’s (<strong>No</strong>n COVID-19): 11<br />

Total Miles Run for 2022 Fallen Firefighters (<strong>No</strong>n COVID-19): 9<br />

Total Miles Run for 2022 Fallen Canada LEO’s: 0<br />

Total Miles Run in 2022 for Fallen COVID-19 Heroes: 6<br />

Total Miles Run for 2021 Fallen LEO’s: 3<br />

Total Miles Run for 2021 Fallen Firefighters: 2<br />

States/Cities Zechariah has run in:<br />

Zechariah<br />

Cartledge:<br />

a True American Hero<br />

Florida - Winter Springs, Lake Mary, Clearwater, Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach, Orlando, Temple Terrace, Blountstown,<br />

Cocoa, Lakeland, Daytona Beach, West Palm Beach, Starke<br />

New York - New York City, Weedsport<br />

Georgia - Cumming, Augusta, Savannah<br />

South Carolina - <strong>No</strong>rth Myrtle Beach, Charleston, Sumter<br />

Pennsylvania - Monaca<br />

Illinois - Springfield, Naperville, Glen Ellyn<br />

Texas - Houston (2), Fort Worth, Midland, New Braunfels, Freeport, Madisonville, Irving, Sadler, San Antonio<br />

Kentucky - Nicholasville<br />

Arkansas - Bryant, Hot Springs, Springdale, Prairie Grove<br />

Nevada - Henderson<br />

Kansas - Overland Park<br />

California - Mt. Vernon, La Jolla<br />

Arizona - Mesa<br />

<strong>No</strong>rth Carolina - Concord, Raleigh<br />

Virginia - <strong>No</strong>rton, Richmond<br />

Tennessee - Bristol<br />

Delaware - Milford<br />

Minnesota - Arden Hills<br />

Indiana - Sullivan, Spencer<br />

Mississippi - Grenada, Olive Branch<br />

Missouri - Springfield, Rolla<br />

Iowa - Independence, Des Moines, Cedar Rapids<br />

108 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 109


DR. TINA JAECKLE<br />

blue mental health<br />

Law Enforcement Suicide and the Need<br />

for Transparency as a Catalyst for Change.<br />

EDiTOR - We’ve experienced<br />

even more suicides in the past 30<br />

days and thought we run this very<br />

important column again. Please<br />

let us help you.<br />

While access to effective<br />

mental health services for law<br />

enforcement officers has significantly<br />

improved over the last<br />

two decades, we continue to<br />

struggle with compiling accurate<br />

statistics on the true number(s)<br />

of those in the field who<br />

die by suicide. Although open<br />

dialogue on officer suicide has<br />

also become more accepted over<br />

time, there is still a great need<br />

for law enforcement agencies<br />

to approach an actual suicide in<br />

a transparent manner. Countless<br />

agencies remain culturally<br />

ingrained in the need to hide an<br />

officer suicide by omitting the<br />

details of the cause of death. We<br />

must practice this transparency<br />

in order to confront the shame<br />

and secrecy of suicide. Our<br />

ability to help and heal officers<br />

who are struggling can only be<br />

effectively built on a foundation<br />

of truthfulness and promotion<br />

of acceptance of the actual<br />

humanness behind the badge.<br />

Fortunately, the tide appears to<br />

be turning as demonstrated by<br />

the press releases of the events<br />

surrounding three recent tragic<br />

suicides in Florida. I applaud the<br />

leadership of these agencies in<br />

approaching these devastating<br />

losses in a compassionate, yet<br />

direct manner and highly urge<br />

other agencies to do the same. It<br />

is an essential way to spread the<br />

message that it is “Ok not to be<br />

Ok”.<br />

Hillsborough County Sheriff’s<br />

Office (HCSO) (FL) Deputy Christopher<br />

Former died by suicide<br />

on Wednesday night, December<br />

29, 2021, according to his department.<br />

One of the 49-yearold<br />

deputy’s family members<br />

contacted the HCSO 911 Center<br />

shortly after 7 p.m. and told the<br />

operator that Deputy Former had<br />

threatened suicide in a phone<br />

call, the sheriff’s office said in a<br />

press release on Thursday. HCSO<br />

deputies responded to Deputy<br />

Former’s Mira Lago home and<br />

spoke with him briefly before<br />

the veteran deputy barricaded<br />

himself inside the residence. Attempts<br />

to convince Deputy Former<br />

to exit the home peacefully<br />

were unsuccessful. At approximately<br />

11 p.m., SWAT officers<br />

entered the residence and found<br />

Deputy Former dead from an<br />

“apparent self-inflicted gunshot<br />

wound,” the HCSO said in their<br />

press release.<br />

“My deepest condolences go<br />

out to Deputy Former’s family<br />

and those that knew and loved<br />

him,” Hillsborough County Sheriff<br />

Chad Chronister said. “While<br />

this is a difficult time for our<br />

Sheriff’s Office family, it is times<br />

like this where we rely on each<br />

other and the community for<br />

DR. TINA JAECKLE<br />

support. Together we will grieve<br />

and try to make sense of what<br />

happened.”<br />

Deputy Former served the<br />

HCSO for 23 years and was most<br />

recently assigned to the Ruskin<br />

area as a community resource<br />

deputy. “He was a guardian at<br />

heart,” longtime friend John-Michael<br />

Elms told the Tampa Bay<br />

Times. “He wanted to protect<br />

people from those bad things out<br />

there and I think he did it wonderfully<br />

for over 20 years.” “You<br />

go into that profession because<br />

you want to help people, and<br />

what I saw of him on the job, he<br />

never developed that stereotypical<br />

cynicism that some do in<br />

those kinds of jobs,” Elms added<br />

“He always looked for the best in<br />

people.” In addition to his service<br />

as a law enforcement officer,<br />

Deputy Former was also a U.S.<br />

Army veteran, the Tampa Bay<br />

Times reported. He leaves behind<br />

two grown children, Elms said.<br />

The St. Lucie County Sheriff’s<br />

Office (FL) announced Tuesday,<br />

January 3, 2022, that two of its<br />

deputies died by suicide in the<br />

last week. Deputy Clayton Osteen<br />

attempted suicide on New<br />

Year’s Eve and was removed<br />

from life support by his family<br />

days later on Sunday. In the wake<br />

of his death, Deputy Victoria<br />

Pachero took her life, according<br />

to the sheriff’s office. She shared<br />

a 1-month-old son with Deputy<br />

Osteen. “Words cannot express<br />

the tremendous loss we all feel<br />

after losing these two members<br />

of our Sheriff’s Office family,”<br />

Sheriff Ken Mascara said in a<br />

statement. “To the general public,<br />

and sometimes even myself,<br />

it’s easy to view law enforcement<br />

as superhuman...but let’s<br />

not forget that they’re human<br />

just like us. “Law enforcement<br />

deal with not only the day-today<br />

stress we all face but also<br />

the stress of those whom they<br />

serve in our community, which<br />

can sometimes be very challenging.<br />

“While it is impossible for us<br />

to fully comprehend the private<br />

circumstances leading up to this<br />

devastating loss, we pray that<br />

this tragedy becomes a catalyst<br />

for change, a catalyst to help<br />

ease the stigma surrounding<br />

mental well-being and normalize<br />

the conversation about the<br />

challenges so many of us face<br />

on a regular basis.” Very well<br />

said sheriff. The nation grieves<br />

with you.<br />

Please do not hesitate to reach<br />

out for assistance at any time at<br />

the following law enforcement<br />

numbers, contacts, and agencies:<br />

Copline (www.copline.org),<br />

1-800-COPLINE; Humanizing the<br />

Badge (contact@humanizingthebadge.com);<br />

and Safe Call <strong>No</strong>w<br />

(www.safecallnowusa.org),<br />

206-459-3020.<br />

110 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 111


RUSTY BARRON<br />

off duty & outdoors<br />

Field to Table Recipes: My Top Favorites (Part I)<br />

For many of us, the fall has<br />

been filled with days hunting<br />

deer, birds, and small game<br />

resulting in freezers full of meat<br />

ready to be cooked into amazing<br />

table fare. Preparing a meal<br />

from wild game is not only<br />

amazing to share with friends,<br />

but it completes the hunting<br />

adventure. Sometime back in<br />

my youth, I made the life-long<br />

pledge to the Hunting Gods that<br />

I will not shoot it unless I enjoy<br />

eating it. Therefore, for me personally,<br />

I don’t do a lot of small<br />

game hunting and this probably<br />

explains why I love big game<br />

and dove hunting so much.<br />

Over the years I have enjoyed<br />

sharing my wild game cookouts<br />

with my family and friends<br />

and thought this month I would<br />

share two of my favorite crowd<br />

pleasers in the hopes that maybe<br />

you too can become the<br />

go-to chef for neighborhood<br />

parties.<br />

First a big disclaimer; I love<br />

cooking, but over the years I<br />

have developed my own style<br />

and philosophy of cooking. I<br />

believe cooking is an art, not a<br />

science, and therefore recipes<br />

are there to guide you, not be<br />

some chore that must me followed<br />

exactly. I encourage you<br />

to treat these two as just that,<br />

a guideline or starting point to<br />

which, you can add your own<br />

personality.<br />

MORNING LIMITS OF DOVE IN THE FIELD WILL MAKE FOR A GREAT<br />

EVENING OF GRILLED DOVE POPPERS<br />

Rusty’s Grilled Dove Poppers<br />

Doves can be breasted in the<br />

field and then later each breast<br />

should be removed from the<br />

breastbone and fillet into 4<br />

boneless strips. Therefore, each<br />

dove will result in 4 small boneless<br />

breast fillets, with each<br />

quarter being about the size of<br />

your small finger.<br />

Ingredients:<br />

-15 Dove breasts, quartered<br />

(so 60 small quarters of dove<br />

breast) washed and soaked in<br />

bowl of milk for at least 12 hours<br />

before preparing them<br />

-3-4 Fresh Jalapenos cleaned,<br />

sliced in half, deseeded, and<br />

sliced across to make a piece<br />

about the size of ½ your wedding<br />

ring.<br />

-4 packages of Bacon<br />

-2 packages of Cream cheese<br />

-1 box of Round Toothpicks<br />

PREPARING DOVE POPPERS HAS BECOME A FAMILY EVENT<br />

FOLLOWING OUR ANNUAL WEST TEXAS DOVE HUNTING TRIP<br />

RUSTY BARRON<br />

Cooking instructions<br />

-Layout newspapers on a counter<br />

for a good workspace then<br />

add a layer of wax paper on top.<br />

-Cut the strips of bacon in half<br />

and layout on the wax paper for<br />

a production line<br />

-Place a dove breast quarter on<br />

the half bacon strip<br />

-Place a small piece of cream<br />

cheese next to the dove breast<br />

on the half bacon strip<br />

-Push a piece of the fresh jalapeno<br />

into the piece of cream<br />

cheese on the half bacon strip<br />

-Roll the half bacon strip with<br />

the dove breast, cream cheese<br />

and jalapeno and hold together<br />

with two round toothpicks.<br />

(Always place two toothpicks<br />

and always tell your guests there<br />

are two toothpicks in each popper.<br />

This is important because<br />

when you grill them, sometimes<br />

the toothpick ends will burn off<br />

where you cannot always identify<br />

both…I tell my guests “if you<br />

don’t pull out two toothpicks before<br />

you put them in your mouth,<br />

we will be pulling one toothpick<br />

out of the top of your month, so<br />

please pull two before you eat<br />

them.”)<br />

-Place the rolled-up poppers<br />

on a hot grill and keep turning<br />

them. You might need to have a<br />

cup of water close by if the grill<br />

flames up from the bacon grease<br />

cooking.<br />

-Keep turning them until the<br />

bacon is cooked crisp and then<br />

remove them from the grill and<br />

serve.<br />

-Makes 60 Grilled Dove Poppers.<br />

Enjoy!<br />

112 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 113


ADS BACK IN THE DAY<br />

114 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 115


ADS BACK IN THE DAY<br />

116 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 117


THERE ARE NO WORDS<br />

parting shots...<br />

...pardon our humor<br />

But Sarge!<br />

Guy came out of nowhere, mowed us over!<br />

Don’t look, he’s over by the guardrail..<br />

My first day as a SGT, can you belive this crap.<br />

118 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 119<br />

The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 119<br />

118 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE


NOW HIRING<br />

LE job positions<br />

Baytown Police Department Get Info Peace Officer 03/09/2022 - 5pm<br />

New Boston Police Department Get Info Police Officer 03/22/2022 - 5pm<br />

Bryan Police Department Get Info Police Officer 03/14/2022 - 5pm<br />

Galveston Police Department Get Info Police Cadet 02/03/2022 - 5pm<br />

Seymour Police Department Get Info Police Officer 02/21/2022 - 5pm<br />

Brady Police Department Get Info Police Officer 02/19/2022 - 5pm<br />

Hutto Police Department Get Info Police Officer 02/22/2022 - 5pm<br />

Leonard Police Department Get Info Peace Officer 02/22/2022 - 5pm<br />

Bandera County Sheriff's Office Get Info Patrol Officer 02/28/2022 - 5pm<br />

Jefferson Police Department Get Info Police Officer 02/28/2022 - 5pm<br />

Bedford Police Department Get Info Police Officer 03/05/2022 - 5pm<br />

Trophy Club Police Department Get Info Police Officer 02/28/2022 - 5pm<br />

Lindale Police Department Get Info Police Officer 03/04/2022 - 5pm<br />

Bell County Constable PCT 4 Get Info Deputy Constable II 03/05/2022 - 5pm<br />

Kimble County Sheriff's Office Get Info Deputy 03/05/2022 - 5pm<br />

Carrolton Police Department Get Info Police Officer 02/05/2022 - 5pm<br />

Haltom Police Department Get Info Police Officer 02/24/2022 - 5pm<br />

Bruceville-Eddy Police Department Get Info Patrol Officer 03/11/2022 - 5pm<br />

Meridian Police Department Get Info Police Officer 03/31/2022 - 5pm<br />

Marlin Police Department Get Info Patrol Officer 03/30/2022 - 5pm<br />

Jersey Village Police Department Get Info Patrol Officer 03/18/2022 - 5pm<br />

Woodway Public Safety Department Get Info Public Safety Officer 03/25/2022 - 5pm<br />

River Oaks Police Department Get Info Police Officer 03/18/2022 - 5pm<br />

Memorial Villages Police Department Get Info Police Officer 03/18/2022 - 5pm<br />

Port Aransas Police Department Get Info Patrol Officer 03/10/2022 - 5pm<br />

Richardson Police Department Get Info Peace Officer 03/19/2022 - 5pm<br />

Wylie Police Department Get Info Police Officer 03/18/2022 - 5pm<br />

Hansford County Sheriff's Department Get Info Patrol Deputy 04/20/2022 - 5pm<br />

Texas City Police Department Get Info Police Officer 03/20/2022 - 5pm<br />

Concordia University Texas Police Department Get Info Police Officer 02/21/2022 - 5pm<br />

Memphis Police Department Get Info Police Officer 03/01/2022 - 5pm<br />

Kingsville Police Department Get Info Police Officer 03/24/2022 - 5pm<br />

Samson Park Police Department Get Info Police Officer 03/25/2022 - 5pm<br />

Oak Ridge <strong>No</strong>rth Police Department Get Info Patrol Officer 04/01/2022 - 5pm<br />

Baylor University Police Department Get Info Police Corporal 02/26/2022 - 5pm<br />

Center Texas Police Department Get Info Patrol/Police Officer 02/26/2022 - 5pm<br />

Dimmitt Police Department Get Info Police Officer 03/25/2022 - 5pm<br />

Seguin Police Department Get Info Police Officer 02/26/2022 - 5pm<br />

San Saba County Sheriff's Office Get Info Deputy Sheriff 03/25/2022 - 5pm<br />

Fannin County Sheriff's Office Get Info Patrol Deputy 02/22/2022 - 5pm<br />

Mansfield ISD Police Department Get Info Police Officer 03/30/2022 - 5pm<br />

Somervell County Sheriff's Office Get Info Patrol Deputy 02/28/2022 - 5pm<br />

Cuero Police Department Get Info Patrol Officer 03/31/2022 - 5pm<br />

Universal City Police Department Get Info Patrol Officer 03/01/2022 - 5pm<br />

Tyler County Sheriff's Department Get Info Deputy Sheriff 04/01/2022 - 5pm<br />

Gatesville Police Department Get Info Peace Officer 03/31/2022 - 5pm<br />

Ennis ISD Police Department Get Info Police Chief 04/01/2022 - 5pm<br />

The University of Texas Police at Houston Get Info Detective 03/31/2022 - 5pm<br />

The University of Texas Police at Houston Get Info Police Officer 03/31/2022 - 5pm<br />

The University of Texas Police at Houston Get Info Senior Detective 03/31/2022 - 5pm<br />

Keller Police Department Get Info Police Officer 04/05/2022 - 5pm<br />

Azle Police Department Get Info Police Chief 04/02/2022 - 5pm<br />

Guadalupe County Sheriff’s Office Get Info Cadet 02/18/2022 - 5pm<br />

Roberts County Sheriff’s Office Get Info Deputy 03/07/2022 - 5pm<br />

City of Marlin Police Department Get Info Police Sergeant 04/07/2022 - 5pm<br />

Schleicher County Sheriff's Office Get Info Deputy Sheriff 04/08/2022 - 5pm<br />

City of Coleman Get Info Police Officer 04/08/2022 - 5pm<br />

City of Victoria Police Department Get Info Senior Police Officer 03/08/2022 - 5pm<br />

Texas State Technical College Police Dept. Get Info Police Officer 04/01/2022 - 5pm<br />

Dalworthington Gardens DPS Get Info Reserve Police Officer 04/12/2022 - 5pm<br />

Dalworthington Gardens DPS Get Info Public Safety Officer 04/12/2022 - 5pm<br />

Lockhart Police Department Get Info Police Officer 02/23/2022 - 5pm<br />

City of Kingsville Police Department Get Info Entry Level Police Officer 03/21/2022 - 5pm<br />

Sulphur Springs Police Department Get Info Police Officer 03/11/2022 - 5pm<br />

Santa Fe ISD Police Department Get Info Police Officer 04/10/2022 - 5pm<br />

Fair Oaks Ranch Police Department Get Info Police Officer 03/11/2022 - 5pm<br />

Travis Co. Const. Office Pct. 2 Get Info Deputy Constable 04/01/2022 - 5pm<br />

Travis County Police Department Get Info Peace Officer 04/14/2022 - 5pm<br />

Del Rio Police Department Get Info Police Officer 02/21/2022 - 5pm<br />

Tyler Junior College Police Dept. Get Info Campus Police Officer 04/15/2022 - 5pm<br />

STATEWIDE VACANCIES FOR JAILERS<br />

Rockwall County Sheriff's Office Get Info Jailer 03/04/2022 - 5pm<br />

Galveston County Sheriff's Department Get Info Corrections Deputy 02/07/2022 - 5pm<br />

Richardson Police Department Get Info Detention Officer 03/18/2022 - 5pm<br />

Tarrant County Sheriff's Office Get Info Detention Officer 03/18/2022 - 5pm<br />

Mesquite Police Department Get Info Detention Officer 03/20/2022 - 5pm<br />

Denton County Sheriff's Office Get Info Detention Officer 02/26/2022 - 5pm<br />

120 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 121


EMPLOYMENT BENEFITS<br />

• Paid Vacation<br />

• Sick Leave<br />

• Paid Holidays<br />

• Personal Days<br />

• Compensatory Days<br />

• Certification Pay<br />

ALDINE ISD POLICE DEPT.<br />

now accepting applications for:<br />

Dispatcher<br />

Salary starting at $32,690,<br />

no experience required.<br />

TO APPLY VISIT<br />

WWW.ALDINEISD.ORG<br />

OR<br />

Contact the Personnel<br />

Department at<br />

281-985-7571<br />

OR<br />

Contact Sergeant R. Hall at<br />

281-442-4923<br />

HIRING PROCESS<br />

• Oral Board Panel Interview<br />

• Complete Personal History Statement<br />

• Psychological Evaluation<br />

• Medical Examination<br />

• Interview with the Chief of Police<br />

122 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 123


EMPLOYMENT BENEFITS<br />

• Paid Vacation<br />

• Sick Leave<br />

• Paid Holidays<br />

• Personal Days<br />

• Compensatory Days<br />

• Certification Pay<br />

ALDINE ISD POLICE DEPT.<br />

now accepting applications for<br />

Full-Time Police Officers<br />

MUST HOLD A CURRENT TCOLE<br />

PEACE OFFICE CERTIFICATE<br />

Salary starting at $50,000<br />

with no experience<br />

TO APPLY VISIT<br />

WWW.ALDINEISD.ORG<br />

OR<br />

Contact the Personnel<br />

Department at<br />

281-985-7571<br />

OR<br />

Contact Sergeant R. Hall at<br />

281-442-4923<br />

HIRING PROCESS<br />

• Physical Agility Test<br />

• Written Exam<br />

• Oral Board Panel Interview<br />

• Complete Personal History Statement<br />

• Psychological Evaluation<br />

• Medical Examination<br />

• Interview with the Chief of Police<br />

124 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 125


Pay scale:<br />

$57,000 (as a non-certified Cadet) up to $82,762, depending on certification<br />

BENEFITS<br />

• Supportive leadership and community<br />

• Civil Service<br />

• 12-hour shifts for patrol division<br />

• 3-day weekend approximately twice a month<br />

• Take-home vehicles<br />

• Tattoos permitted<br />

• Longevity Pay – $4/month for each year of service;<br />

maximum of $1,200/year<br />

• TCOLE certificate pay<br />

• Paid sick leave with unlimited accumulation<br />

• Vacation – 15 days/year<br />

• Holidays – 10 paid and 2 additional floating holidays/year<br />

• Group health insurance with deductible, flexible spending accounts,<br />

and Section 125 options<br />

• Life insurance, long‐term disability and workers’ compensation<br />

• Optional life insurance and deferred plans are also available<br />

• Retirement plan with the Texas Municipal Retirement System<br />

• Employee contributes 7%, city matches 2:1<br />

• Opportunity to attend training schools<br />

• Equipment and uniforms are furnished, including regulation weapon<br />

• Employee Assistance Program<br />

• Post Police Academy pay - $58,469 @ 28.11/hour<br />

• On-duty fitness time provided<br />

The City of Coleman is seeking applications for a full-time position for Police Officer. The<br />

successful candidate must possess a high school diploma or equivalent and a valid current<br />

law enforcement license issued by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement. Starting<br />

salary for patrol officers is $19.50/hr. The position includes an excellent benefits package,<br />

including longevity pay and TMRS retirement with a 7% employee contribution and 2/1<br />

matching by the city. Applications are available at City Hall, or an electronic version is<br />

available HERE. Applications should be returned to the Coleman Police Department, 109 N.<br />

Concho, Coleman, Texas, 76834, or emailed to police_chief@cityofcolemantx.us. This<br />

position will remain open until filled. For additional information on job requirements, contact:<br />

Chief of Police<br />

City of Coleman<br />

325-625-4114<br />

police_chief@cityofcolemantx.us<br />

An Equal Opportunity Employer<br />

Pre-employment drug test and physical is required.<br />

We work 12 hour shifts with every other weekend off. We offer certificate pay for<br />

Intermediate, Advanced and Masters Peace Officer certifications. Take home vehicle<br />

provided if you live within three miles from the city limits.<br />

Coleman is a growing community located about 30 miles <strong>No</strong>rthwest of Brownwood, 55 miles<br />

To learn more about hiring details,<br />

qualifications, and application instructions, visit: Bryantx.gov/PDJobs<br />

Southeast of Abilene and about 60 miles <strong>No</strong>rtheast of San Angelo.<br />

126 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE<br />

The City of Bryan is an Equal Opportunity Employer.<br />

The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 127


• Police Officer Salary<br />

• $52,436 to $72,284 DOE<br />

• Adjusted with prior experience<br />

• Yearly step increase of 2.5%<br />

• Yearly merit increases of up to 3%<br />

• Intermediate…………………$600/yr<br />

• Advanced……..……………..$1,200/yr<br />

• Master………………….……..$1,800/yr<br />

• FTO……………………..………….$600/yr<br />

• Bilingual….……....……..…….$600/yr<br />

• Instructor……………up to $1,200/yr<br />

• Associates Degree………...$1,000/yr<br />

• Bachelor’s Degree………...$2,000/yr<br />

• 12 Hour Shifts<br />

• Every other weekend off<br />

• All Uniforms and Equipment provided<br />

• $1,000 Annual Uniform Allowance<br />

• Allowed 1 hour on-duty to Exercise<br />

• All Training paid by Department<br />

• Vacation<br />

• 0-5yrs……….….120 hours annually<br />

• 6-10yrs……..….160 hours annually<br />

• 11-15yrs…….….200 hours annually<br />

• 16-20yrs……….240 hours annually<br />

• +21yrs……...….280 hours annually<br />

• Sick Leave………….….104 hours annually<br />

• 14 Paid Holidays Annually<br />

• 20-year Retirement Eligibility<br />

• Texas Municipal Retirement System<br />

• 7% - City matches 2 to 1<br />

• Long & Short-term Disability<br />

• City Paid Life Insurance Policy<br />

• Flexible schedules for those seeking<br />

Higher Education<br />

128 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 129


It's<br />

more<br />

than<br />

a job...<br />

It's an investment in our future.<br />

Gatesville Police Department<br />

COMPETITIVE SALARY<br />

STARTING AT $46,592<br />

BENEFITS INCLUDE:<br />

DEPARTMENT ISSUED WEAPONS<br />

ACCRUED SICK/VACATION TIME<br />

INCENTIVE PAY<br />

PAID HOLIDAYS<br />

TMRS RETIREMENT (2:1 MATCH)<br />

HEALTH INSURANCE<br />

LIFE INSURANCE<br />

Apply at:<br />

GatesvilleTX.com<br />

130 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 131


GALVESTON<br />

COUNTY<br />

SHERIFF’S OFFICE<br />

Seeking Individuals Who Are Interested in a Rewarding Career in Corrections<br />

Begin Your Career Today!<br />

GALVESTON COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE ESTABLISHMENT OF ELIGIBILITY<br />

Position: Corrections Deputy I<br />

Bureau/Division: Corrections/Jail<br />

Title/Rank: Corrections Deputy/Deputy I<br />

Reports to: Sergeant - Corrections<br />

Starting Salary: $47,715.20<br />

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES<br />

Maintains the security of the facility by conducting security checks, settling disputes, and performing cell searches and<br />

inspections; conducts outside perimeter checks.<br />

Preparation and proper completion in the documentation of inmate records.<br />

Issues inmate meals, clothing, linens, and personal items.<br />

Supervise inmate programs (recreational, legal, health care, visitation and religious services)<br />

Prepares reports on jail and inmate activities, enforce inmate handbook rules.<br />

Supervises inmates performing such assignments as cleaning and maintaining the jail facility and continuously observe<br />

locations and activities of inmates.<br />

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS<br />

High School / GED Certificate and must be at least 18 years of age.<br />

Must be a U.S. Citizen and resident of the contiguous United States for a period of time sufficient to conduct a<br />

background investigation.<br />

Must be able to work days, nights, weekends, holidays and mandatory shifts when needed.<br />

Must be able to work during natural disasters and or under declarations.<br />

Must possess a valid Texas driver's license and an acceptable driving record as determined by the Galveston County<br />

Sheriff's Office in effect at the time of application.<br />

Must have favorable employment history. All information given regarding past employment will be thoroughly checked<br />

Must have a stable credit history.<br />

Must possess good computer skills and demonstrate comprehensive reading and comprehension skills.<br />

<strong>No</strong> conviction above a Class B Misdemeanor or a Class B misdemeanor within the last 10 years nor have been on or<br />

currently on court-ordered community supervision or probation for any criminal offense and no Family Violence<br />

convictions of any level.<br />

Applicant must pass all phases of the required testing.<br />

Must be eligible for licensing by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) for the position applied for, if not<br />

presently licensed.<br />

TO APPLY<br />

An applicant interested in any of GCSO position shall first download, complete and return<br />

the Application Packet, per the instructions on the downloadable form.<br />

The Application Packet can be found at SHERIFF.GALVESTONCOUNTYTX.GOV<br />

132 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 133<br />

JOIN US<br />

VISIT SHERIFF.GALVESTONCOUNTYTX.GOV TO APPLY!<br />

The Galveston County Sheriff’s Office is an Equal Opportunity Employer<br />

CONTACT US<br />

409.763.7585 : SO.EMPLOYMENT@GALVESTONCOUNTYTX.GOV


JOIN TEAM HURST<br />

NOW HIRING POLICE OFFICERS<br />

HIRING PAY<br />

BENEFITS<br />

POST PROBATION PAY<br />

$74,755.20<br />

10 Paid holidays<br />

120 Hours vacation per year<br />

120 Hours sick per year<br />

Certification Pay<br />

$81,848.00<br />

LATERAL DEPUTY<br />

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS<br />

United States Citizen<br />

At least age 21 at the time of testing<br />

High school diploma or GED<br />

60 hours college<br />

Vision correctable to 20/20 - no color<br />

blindness<br />

<strong>No</strong>rmal hearing<br />

Must be licensable by the Texas Commission<br />

on Law Enforcement<br />

Good moral character<br />

Stable employment history<br />

Valid Texas Driver's License (or able to obtain<br />

one)<br />

Under age 45<br />

TEST DATE AND TIME<br />

Saturday, February 19, 2022<br />

8:00 AM<br />

Hurst Justice Center<br />

825 Thousand Oaks Drive<br />

Hurst, TX 76054<br />

817-788-7079<br />

Five points added for honorable<br />

discharge from the military.<br />

hursttx.gov/police<br />

134 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 135


FILL YOUR DEPARTMENTS’<br />

OPEN POSITIONS<br />

KELLER POLICE DEPARTMENT<br />

<strong>No</strong>w Hiring Lateral & Entry Level Police Officers<br />

SALARY<br />

First Year Officer- $63,065<br />

$2,500 Relocation Incentive<br />

$2,500 Lateral Incentive (TCOLE Certified)<br />

Lateral Program Available<br />

BENEFITS<br />

Medical, Dental, & Vision Insurance<br />

Paid Time Off<br />

Shift Differential<br />

Certification Pay<br />

TMRS Retirement<br />

APPLICATION DEADLINE<br />

April 5, 2022<br />

Test Dates– April 2 & 5<br />

Contact Us<br />

Sgt. D. Potts<br />

(817)743-4543<br />

dpotts@cityofkeller.com<br />

Visit cityofkeller.com to apply & view additional<br />

information about this job posting.<br />

* The City of Keller is an equal opportunity employer<br />

Pay scale:<br />

$57,000 (as a non-certified Cadet) up to $82,762, depending on certification<br />

BENEFITS<br />

• Supportive leadership and community<br />

• Civil Service<br />

• 12-hour shifts for patrol division<br />

• 3-day weekend approximately twice a month<br />

• Take-home vehicles<br />

• Tattoos permitted<br />

• Longevity Pay – $4/month for each year of<br />

service; maximum of $1,200/year<br />

• TCOLE certificate pay<br />

• Paid sick leave with unlimited accumulation<br />

• Vacation – 15 days/year<br />

• Holidays – 10 paid and 2 additional floating<br />

holidays/year<br />

• On-duty fitness time provided<br />

• Group health insurance with deductible, flexible<br />

spending accounts, and Section 125 options<br />

• Life insurance, long‐term disability and workers’<br />

compensation<br />

• Optional life insurance and deferred plans are<br />

also available<br />

• Retirement plan with the Texas Municipal<br />

Retirement System<br />

• Employee contributes 7%, city matches 2:1<br />

• Opportunity to attend training schools<br />

• Equipment and uniforms are furnished, including<br />

regulation weapon<br />

• Employee Assistance Program<br />

• Post Police Academy pay - $58,469 @ 28.11/hour<br />

Important<br />

Information<br />

Application Deadline:<br />

January 14, 2022<br />

Written exam:<br />

January 21, 2022<br />

To learn more about hiring details, qualifications, and application instructions, visit: Bryantx.gov/PDJobs<br />

The City of Bryan is an Equal Opportunity Employer.<br />

FOR ONLY $250,<br />

FOR 6 MONTHS.<br />

REACH 1/2 MILLION<br />

POTENTIAL CANDIDATES.<br />

136 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 137


Must be at least 21 years of age with High School diploma or equivalent.<br />

Must meet physical, mental & educational standards set by the State and<br />

the department.<br />

Current Basic Peace Officer certification from TCOLE.<br />

https://www.huttotx.gov/DocumentCenter/View/780/Certifiedinitial-application-Police-Officer-2021?bidId=<br />

HUTTO POLICE<br />

DEPARTMENT<br />

<br />

BENEFITS<br />

RETIREMENT—TMRS with City match ratio of 2 to 1 after 5-year<br />

vesting period.<br />

SIGN ON BONUS—$ 2,500.00<br />

SPECIALY/CERTIFICATION PAY :<br />

Intermediate Peace Officer—$ 50.00 per month<br />

Advanced Peace Officer—$ 100.00 per month<br />

Master Peace Officer—$ 150.00 per month<br />

Bilingual—$50.00 Level 1,$75.00 Level 2 per month (after testing)<br />

*Crash Reconstruction—$ 50.00 per month<br />

*EMT/Paramedic—$ 50.00 per month<br />

*Firearms Instructor—$ 50.00 per month<br />

*Field Training Officer—$ 130.00 bi-weekly<br />

*Hutto Response Team—$ 130.00 bi-weekly<br />

*Officer in Charge—$ 130.00 bi-weekly<br />

<br />

<br />

EDUCATION:<br />

Associates Degree—$ 50.00 per month<br />

Bachelors Degree—$ 125.00 per month<br />

Masters Degree—$1 75.00 per month<br />

UNIFORMS/EQUIPMENT—All necessary equipment, including<br />

AR-15, Shotgun, TASER and Body Armor. Also included is a<br />

$400.00 annual uniform allowance per officer.<br />

LEAVE ACCRUALS—12 paid Holidays, 80 hours of Vacation, 96<br />

hours of Sick Leave annually.<br />

<br />

<br />

TAKE HOME CAR—Upon completion of Field Training Program,<br />

officers living within 25 miles of Hutto, TX are authorized to<br />

take their police vehicle to their residence.<br />

STARTING SALARY—$ 58,880.00 (May vary based on experience.)<br />

*upon approval<br />

We want YOU to<br />

join our team!<br />

PATROL<br />

TRAINING UNIT<br />

STREET CRIMES<br />

INVESTIGATIONS<br />

COMMUNITY<br />

RESOURCE<br />

CRIME SCENE<br />

CRASH<br />

RECONSTRUCTION<br />

HUTTO RESPONSE<br />

TEAM<br />

BIKE PATROL<br />

K9<br />

1<strong>38</strong> The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 139


140 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 141


Memorial Villages Police Department<br />

Bunker Hill • Piney Point• Hunters Creek<br />

Police Officer<br />

EOE/M/F/D<br />

5+ Years Patrol Experience Required<br />

The Memorial Villages Police Department (Located on the West Side of Houston) currently has<br />

openings for experienced officers who are self- motivated and enthusiastic about community<br />

policing. We have overwhelming support of our communities and encourage our officers to be<br />

proactive and innovative.<br />

$1500 Sign on Bonus<br />

Starting Salary Range<br />

$71,179 – $82,808 (DOQ)<br />

• Healthcare Insurance, DHMO Dental, Vision – 100% paid for employee, 50% for<br />

spouse/dependents.<br />

• Paid long-term disability and life insurance for employee, with additional life insurance<br />

available for spouse/dependents.<br />

• Health Savings Account with departmental contributions up to $4200 annually<br />

• TMRS Retirement 2 to 1 match, 7% Employee ,14% Employer Contribution.<br />

• 457 Plan with employer contribution of 2% of annual salary<br />

• Bi-Lingual Pay (2.5% of Base salary)<br />

• Shift Differential Pay $3600 annually<br />

• Tuition reimbursement<br />

• Longevity Pay up to a max of $2400 annually at 10 years of service.<br />

• College Education incentive up to $3000 for a master’s degree<br />

• LEMIT or FBI NA pay $1200 annually.<br />

• ECA (Emergency Care Assistant) $1300 Annually, training provided to each employee.<br />

• 12 hour shifts with every other Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off.<br />

• Officer certification pay, Intermediate, Advanced, and Master up to 7.5% of Salary.<br />

To learn more or apply, visit our website at www.mvpdtx.org<br />

Or contact Sgt. Owens 713-365-3711 or lowens@mvpdtx.org<br />

Or Commander E. Jones 713-365-3706 ejones@mvpdtx.org<br />

11981 Memorial Dr. Houston, Texas 77024<br />

142 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 143


144 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 145


MAKE A<br />

DIFFERENCE<br />

IN YOUR<br />

COMMUNITY<br />

We are looking for outstanding individuals to<br />

join our team! As a Pearland Police Officer your<br />

mission will be to prevent crime and disorder, build<br />

partnerships within the community, and positively<br />

impact the quality of life for all our residents.<br />

CITY OF PEARLAND, TEXAS<br />

• Competitive Salary • Outstanding Training<br />

• Career Advancement • Exceptional Benefits<br />

The City of Pearland is one of the fastest growing<br />

communities within the region. Pearland is located<br />

approximately 20 minutes south of Downtown Houston<br />

and the current population is approximately 130,000<br />

residents.<br />

JOIN OUR TEAM<br />

HIRING POLICE OFFICERS AND CADETS<br />

$5,000 Hiring Incentive for T.C.O.L.E Certified Police<br />

Officers who qualify with at least 2 years of experience.<br />

TEST DATE:<br />

SATURDAY, APRIL 24, 8:30 A.M.<br />

Register by: April 12.<br />

Pearland Recreation Center & Natatorium<br />

4141 Bailey Road, Pearland, TX 77584.<br />

Doors Open: 7:15 a.m. <strong>No</strong> admittance after 7:45 a.m.<br />

Candidates must park in the north parking lot.<br />

SOCIAL DISTANCING MEASURES WILL APPLY<br />

• Attendance limited to first 150 arrivals<br />

• Mandatory temperature checks<br />

• Masks required, hand sanitizer available<br />

• Candidates seated 6 feet apart<br />

<br />

<br />

•Be a citizen of the nited tates able to read,<br />

write, and speak the English language<br />

• Have a high school diploma or equivalency certificate .E.. certified by<br />

the issuing agency with:<br />

0 credit hours with a cumulative PA of 2.0 or higher on a .0 scale from an accredited<br />

institute of higher learning or<br />

- Minimum 24 months of active duty service with an honorable discharge authenticated by<br />

a Member 2 or Member orm 21 or<br />

15 credit hours with a cumulative PA of 2.0 or higher on a .0 scale in addition to Basic<br />

Peace Officer Certification from TCOLE or<br />

An Intermediate Peace Officer Certification from TCOLE<br />

• Valid driver’s license with acceptable driving record<br />

• Must meet all legal requirements necessary to become a licensed Peace Officer by the Texas<br />

Commission on Law Enforcement TCOLE.<br />

• Be between 21 and 5 years of age at the time of the examination or<br />

• Be between 18 and 21 years of age if the applicant has received an associate’s degree or 60<br />

semester hours of credit from an accredited college or university or has received an honorable<br />

discharge from the armed forces of the nited tates after at least two years of active service.<br />

: Cadet $1. hourly Police Officer $2. hourly.<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

April 12, 2021. Applications will not be accepted after this date.<br />

Submit applications online by visiting pearlandtx.gov/careers.<br />

THE CITY OF PEARLAND IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER<br />

pecial accommodations are available when necessary to aord equal opportunity to participate<br />

in testing. Please make request in writing, five business days prior to the test date to City of<br />

Pearland, HR Department, 3519 Liberty Drive, Pearland, TX 77581.<br />

or questions regarding the application process please contact Terene uddsohnson at<br />

281.652.1617 or hr@pearlandtx.gov.<br />

List will remain in eect for one 1 year or until exhausted, whichever is sooner.<br />

146 The For BLUES additional POLICE information MAGAZINE and to register for an upcoming Civil Service Exam, visit<br />

The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 147<br />

pearlandtx.gov/PDCareers


SANTA FE ISD POLICE DEPARTMENT<br />

IS NOW HIRING<br />

187 Day Contract<br />

Salary: $24.72 to $34.82 Hourly<br />

(Commensurate with experience)<br />

BENEFITS INCLUDE:<br />

Full Time Employment<br />

Full Medical Insurance Options<br />

Teacher Retirement System<br />

Summers off<br />

Paid Holidays: Thanksgiving,<br />

Christmas, Spring Break<br />

INCENTIVES<br />

Certificate Pay<br />

Intermediate - $100.00 mo.<br />

Advanced - $150.00 mo.<br />

Master - $200.00 mo.<br />

Degree Pay<br />

Associate’s - $100.00 mo.<br />

Bachelor’s - $150.00 mo.<br />

Master’s - $200.00 mo.<br />

Take home vehicle after 3 yrs. Service<br />

Uniforms, equipment and duty weapons<br />

provided<br />

148 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 149


TRAVIS COUNTY<br />

invites applications for the position of:<br />

Constable Deputy<br />

SALARY:<br />

$52,454.27 Annually<br />

OPENING DATE: 02/01/22<br />

CLOSING DATE: 04/01/22 11:59 PM<br />

JOB SUMMARY:<br />

Performs timely service of all criminal and civil processes issued by the courts and enforces local,<br />

state and federal laws; under moderate supervision engages in investigatory duties.<br />

DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS:<br />

This job is within the <strong>No</strong>n-TCSO POPS job family. It is an entry-level job within the uniformed<br />

Constable series.<br />

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:<br />

Delivers and executes civil process papers, maintains records and files of executions<br />

received.<br />

Seizes property under court orders and holds auction on levied property.<br />

Enforces local, state, federal, and compulsory school attendance laws as required.<br />

Responds to inquiries and serves as liaison to other agencies and the public.<br />

Transports prisoners to jail and may transport persons committed to mental institutions to<br />

state hospital.<br />

Serves warrants, makes arrests.<br />

Serves as a bailiff for Justice of the Peace court.<br />

Responds to major emergencies and disasters.<br />

May perform the following additional duties (varies with the precinct assigned):<br />

Provides building security services and person inspections.<br />

May perform traffic related functions.<br />

Checks title and serial numbers on vehicles, maintains patrol vehicles, and searches for<br />

missing persons.<br />

Performs other job-related duties as assigned.<br />

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS:<br />

Education and Experience:<br />

Requires a High School diploma or equivalency certificate with no felony convictions.<br />

Must be at least 21 years of age or at least 18 years of age with 60 or more hours of accredited<br />

college credits or 2 years of military service with an honorable discharge.<br />

Licenses, Registrations, Certifications, or Special Requirements:<br />

Requires active peace officer license.<br />

150 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 151


City of Wylie<br />

Police Department<br />

OFFICER SALARY RANGE: HIRING PROCESS: BENEFITS:<br />

<strong>No</strong>n Certified Police Recruit Pay : $62, 370.00<br />

YEARS OF SERVICE ANNUAL SALARY<br />

1 Year—Step 0 $66, 626.06<br />

2 Years—Step 1 $68, 291.71<br />

3 Years—Step 2 $69, 999.00<br />

4 Years—Step 3 $71, 748.98<br />

5 Years—Step 4 $73, 542.70<br />

6 Years—Step 5 $75, <strong>38</strong>1.27<br />

7 Years—Step 6 $77, 265.80<br />

8 Years—Step 7 $79, 197.45<br />

9 Years—Step 8 $81, 177.<strong>38</strong><br />

10+Years—Step 9 $83, 206.82<br />

ADDITIONAL COMPENSATION:<br />

Certification Pay: Up to $1,800 annually<br />

Field Training Officer Pay: $2, 400 annually<br />

Bilingual Pay: $1 ,200 annually<br />

• Complete and submit a City of Wylie<br />

job application: https://<br />

www.governmentjobs.com/careers/<br />

wylietexas<br />

• Written Exam (exempt for Laterals)<br />

• Physical Agility Test<br />

• Complete and submit a Personal<br />

History Statement<br />

• Oral Board Panel Interview<br />

• Background Investigation<br />

• Police Chief Interview<br />

• Polygraph Examination<br />

• Psychological Evaluation<br />

• Medical Examination<br />

RECRUITING CONTACT:<br />

Wylie Police Department<br />

2000 <strong>No</strong>rth Hwy 78<br />

Wylie, TX 75098<br />

Sergeant Mark Johnson<br />

mark.johnson@wylietexas.gov<br />

972-429-8013<br />

• City Paid Medical/Dental/Vision<br />

• Texas Municipal Retirement System<br />

(TMRS) 14% City Contribution<br />

• Paid Time Off (Vacation and Sick Time)<br />

• City Paid Uniforms<br />

• City Paid Training<br />

• Life Insurance and AD&D<br />

• Long Term Disability Insurance<br />

• Employee Assistance Program<br />

• Longevity Pay<br />

• Tuition Reimbursement<br />

• Free Recreation Center Membership<br />

• Deferred Compensation Plan<br />

• Ancillary Benefits Available (Aflac,<br />

Avesis, and More)<br />

Wylie Police Department Mission: Our mission is to impact the quality of life, by providing a professional<br />

level of service that will foster, support, and build relationships with those we serve.<br />

https://www.wylietexas.gov/police.php<br />

152 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 153


WOHPD<br />

Westover Hills Police Department is supported<br />

by the community and city council. We have a<br />

low crime rate and call volume. Westover Hills<br />

will provide a great opportunity to a Police<br />

Officer applicant who is interested in community<br />

policing with a strong sense of service.<br />

APPLY NOW<br />

We have two (2) Police Officer vacancies:<br />

POLICE OFFICER<br />

- $60,000/year<br />

- Sick leave 14 days/year<br />

- Paid holiday 12 days/year<br />

- Paid vacation 2 weeks annually<br />

- 12 h/shifts, 3 days off every other weekend<br />

- Retirement fund 7% 2:1<br />

- Life, health, dental and vision insurance<br />

- Uniform allowance<br />

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS<br />

- US citizen<br />

- High school diploma or GED<br />

- TCOLE certified Peace Officer<br />

- Valid & current TX driver’s license<br />

Please email lback@westoverhillspd.org for information.<br />

12/16/2021<br />

154 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 155


WE'RE HIRING<br />

@UTPoliceHouston<br />

PREVENTION | PREPAREDNESS | PROTECTION<br />

We are currently accepting applications for a POLICE OFFICER.<br />

Well-qualified candidates can earn $65,500 or<br />

higher commensurate with experience.<br />

THE IDEAL CANDIDATE<br />

offers deliberate and caring services to patients, visitors, workforce members and students using industry<br />

standard tools and techniques, not only to respond to and investigate crime and disorder on-campus, but<br />

also to actively prevent problems before a crime occurs. This focus on prevention is through an individual<br />

health and institutional wellness approach to threat management. Through threat management, ideal<br />

officers seek to educate workforce members and students about early indicators of behaviors of concern.<br />

BENEFITS ELIGIBLE POSITION<br />

• Participate in the TRS Pension<br />

Program<br />

• Annual merit raises<br />

• Shift differential pay<br />

• Bilingual pay (up to $1,800)<br />

• Education pay (between $2,400<br />

and $8,000)<br />

• TCOLE certification pay (between<br />

$1,800 and $4,200)<br />

Learn about our 30x30 Initiative to increase women in law enforcement.<br />

To apply, visit http://bit.ly/utph-careers<br />

• Generous tuition reimbursement<br />

through a Cohort<br />

• 100% of health insurance<br />

premiums paid for the employee<br />

• Paid time off<br />

• Sick leave<br />

• Paid holidays<br />

• Earn up to 24 additional hours of<br />

time off based on performance<br />

• Back-up dependent care<br />

• Working Mothers’ Rooms<br />

• Eldercare referral services<br />

• Employee discounts<br />

• Employee Assistance Program<br />

• Three weeks of paid leave in the<br />

first year and accrual increase after<br />

two years<br />

• Extended illness bank<br />

Talent Management Team<br />

utp-hrecruiting@mdanderson.org | 713-792-0900 or 713-792-0823<br />

The City of Victoria<br />

invites applications for the position of:<br />

Police Officer or Senior Police Officer<br />

Salary<br />

$48,045 - $68,500 Annually DOQ<br />

Location<br />

Victoria, TX<br />

Job Type<br />

Full-Time<br />

JOB SUMMARY<br />

The Victoria Police Department is hiring qualified police officer candidates to join our<br />

team and to help enhance the livability of our community. VPD sets the bar for<br />

professionalism, innovation and a progressive approach to our policing strategies. Our<br />

workforce of more than 115 officers and 32 civilian support personnel are a dedicated,<br />

enthusiastic group of professionals who proudly serve over 65,000 Victoria residents.<br />

The Victoria Police Department offers a competitive salary and retirement structure,<br />

great health benefits, and many other incentives such as paid time off and departmentissued<br />

uniforms and equipment.<br />

Officers have lateral and promotional opportunities. Regardless of the assignment, you<br />

will work in an environment that fosters leadership, teamwork and courteous service to<br />

our community.<br />

<strong>No</strong> prior law enforcement experience is required but must be certified as a TCOLE<br />

Peace Officer. Upon employment, you will participate in the City of Victoria Police<br />

Department Field Training Program. You will receive specialized training from some of<br />

the finest officers in law enforcement.<br />

Salary amount offered will depend on qualifications. Lateral pay scale recognized for<br />

Senior Police Officers. This is a non-exempt position.<br />

Applicants currently attending a TCOLE Academy are encouraged to apply.<br />

Employment eligibility will require successful completion of the Academy courses and<br />

certification as a TCOLE Peace Officer.<br />

To learn more about this exciting opportunity and to apply, visit<br />

WWW.VICTORIATX.GOV<br />

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158 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE<br />

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