JULY 2021 Blues Vol 37 No. 7

TEXAS GAME WARDENS but

TEXAS GAME WARDENS but new technology and techniques increase their effectiveness. TPWD incorporated a new K9 team in 2013 to assist in search and rescue, cadaver search, narcotics enforcement and detection of illegally taken or smuggled game and fish. The new game warden helicopter, added in 2014, has a rescue hoist, thermal imager, searchlight, public address system, satellite communication and night vision. In 2018, game wardens expanded their arsenal further with a new search-and-rescue drone. WHEN DISASTER STRIKES New training techniques focusing on swift water have enabled wardens to respond during floods and natural disasters. These skills were instrumental when wardens responded to some of the most destructive natural disasters to strike the Gulf Coast, including hurricanes Katrina and Harvey. On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans. For several days, the powerful storm flooded the city. On August 30, wardens crossed the Louisiana state line to help, marking the first time Texas game wardens were deployed for disaster relief out of state. Game warden Chris Davis was part of that first wave. “We really didn’t know exactly where we were going, where we would stay or what the conditions would be like,” Davis recalls. 60 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 61 60 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 61 60 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 61