Peace Officer Memorial Week (May 14 - 20) is a sacred time for me, and Peace Officer's Memorial Day, May 15th, has become more dear to me than even when I was an active peace officer. The flags were lowered to half-staff yesterday, and memorials will be held all over the country this week, with the biggest ceremony being held in Washington, D.C.
Even as a rebellious teen I was struck with sadness when an officer was slain in the line of duty. No, I did not like getting traffic tickets, and yes, I made fun of home town officers in my little town, as did most of the idiots I ran with. But I always admired police officers from afar, always felt I could depend on an officer to help me if I were in trouble. And I always believed it was the ultimate act of disregard for the law, for people, and for the officer himself, when someone shot an officer, overpowered a jailer or prison guard, or murdered any other officer.
One of the first officers of whose death I was really aware was DPS Trooper Hollie Tull on September 14, 1974. In Temple Texas on that fateful day Trooper Tull stopped a vehicle occupied by two men who had just committed an armed robbery and executed three persons during that robbery. As Trooper Tull approached the vehicle, one of the occupants shot him twice with a shotgun. The Trooper was able to return to his vehicle and retrieve his own shotgun, but was shot several times by the other occupant who had followed Tull back to his vehicle. Even then, Trooper Tull struggled with this man while using his radio to alert other officers. Hollie Tull died that day, but his action probably saved the lives of other officers and civilians as well, since the robber/killers would no doubt commit more crimes as they attempted to flee Texas and return to Oklahoma, their home state. As is usually the case, when these two cowardly animals were confronted by several officers, they (as is so oft repeated) "meekly surrendered" and were taken into custody. In what can only be called an unfathomable decision, both men, after receiving the death penalty (FOUR MURDERS), had their sentences commuted to life. They may well be alive today in prison. I will not waste any time researching that or otherwise dignifying these two who should be long dead and off the state expense roll.
In Texas, one of the most dangerous states in which a peace officer can serve, the annual death toll of peace officers reaches the double digits. Only California occasionally surpasses Texas in the number of officers slain each year. The other three most dangerous states are New York, Florida, and Louisiana during an average year. Of course, correctional officers are in constant danger throughout their shift, and Texas has lost its share of correctional officers over the years. My cousin's husband, a correctional officer in Beeville, was murdered on the job in December, 1999. His killer is STILL sitting on death row.
I became a police officer in Waco in 1981. Just over a year later, in July 1982, one of my fellow academy mates was shot in an alley near the infamous downtown bus station, where two other officers had lost their lives in the past decades. Frank Gentsch III, now a ranking officer with that department, survived the shooting...and for the rest of us, it was suddenly very real that someone might try to shoot or otherwise injure one of us at any time. A year or so later another officer, Bud Thurman, was shot while stopping a robbery. He survived and returned to work a few weeks later.
Then it happened. On August 29, 1989 Robert (Bobby) Vicha was killed at his residence just as he returned from work. Bobby was shot in ambush by his sister's estranged husband. This man had brutally murdered Bobby's elderly parents just before ambushing Bobby. Myself and other officers had to stand by helplessly as a police dragnet encompassed three counties. Within a couple of hours the killer was spotted. He crashed in the subsequent chase but escaped serious injury. He was sentenced to death but with the usual appeal process he remained on death row.
I left police work in 1992 but a few years later I found myself working alongside police officers when I became a member of the first response interdepartmental team, including CPS, local police, and the sheriff's offices of several counties around Midland. In 2004 I had the great pleasure of meeting and working with Detective Arlie Jones of the Odessa Police Department. This officer never looked at child welfare investigations as "cases." These were valuable and vulnerable children, and Arlie was passionate about protecting them, and prosecuting their abusers when possible. Our lives diverged as I left the agency and Arlie was promoted to sergeant in the patrol division of the Police Department. I never saw Arlie again although I spoke to him by phone a couple of times. On September 8, 2007 news interrupted local programming with the announcement that three officers had been killed in Odessa when they responded to a domestic disturbance. Arlie Jones and Corporal Scott Gardner were literally cut in half by shotgun blasts when they knocked at the door of Larry White's house. A third officer, Abel Marguez, was blasted THROUGH THE WALL of the house when White heard him calling out to the fallen officers. Officers who came to the aid of the three fallen officers found Arlie, and the last thing he said was that they needed to check on the other two officers. After a standoff lasting several hours, White finally came out of the house. The senselessness of these murders was aggravated by the fact that White was a bitter, dying old man. He died of cancer before being brought to trial,
In 2012 I began my employment in the Security Department of Midland Memorial Hospital. I met several police officers between 2012 and 2014 there, but one officer that I grew to respect very much was a sergeant with the Midland County Sheriff's Office. Michael Naylor was a very special officer, one who truly cared about the people with whom he had contact. He was especially concerned with the treatment of mentally ill or emotionally disturbed persons. Sergeant Naylor was responsible for creating and overseeing the new Mental Health Officer program. In this capacity he trained other officers to deal with mental patients in a more humane, more understanding way, and that promoted the least use of force possible when dealing with the mentally ill. Sergeant Naylor was respected by his peers, by us in the Security Department, and by the medical professionals at the hospital. His efforts not only helped those who were vulnerable but advanced the treatment of the mentally by law enforcement in the Permian Basin area. On October 9, 2014 Sergeant Naylor and other officers learned that a wanted child predator was in a certain house in west Midland County. Sergeant Naylor and another deputy saw the fugitive in the kitchen of the residence and tried to talk to him. At first the man would not communicate with the officers. Sergeant Naylor knocked out a portion of a window so that he and the man could talk virtually face to face. Sergeant Naylor pointed out that the house was surrounded and tried to talk the man into coming out on his own. Without any provocation or warning the fugitive suddenly drew a pistol and shot Sergeant Naylor in the head. The other deputy and deputies in the yard carried Sergeant Naylor to a waiting ambulance. He was transported to the very hospital where he had worked so diligently with mentally ill persons. Sergeant Naylor never regained consciousness and died within the next hour. Meanwhile, the fugitive eventually came to the door, begging officers not to shoot him. And by their professional training and their integrity as police officers, these men and women were able to show great restraint. The fugitive was arrested and of course now is on the state dole while state paid lawyers still work at having his sentence reduced or his case thrown out.
Since Michael Naylor's murder in 2014 many more officers have given their lives in Texas while serving as Texas Peace Officers. Even now, in 2017, two officers have fallen in Texas, with many others wounded or assaulted in the line of duty. Officers all over Texas, while never forgetting their fallen colleagues, take time during this special week to remember their fallen friends as well as fallen officers around the nation that they will never know, but with whom they are joined in spirit and by the badge they carry.
The officers who gave their lives left behind their colleagues to carry on, but they also left behind their spouses, their children, their parents and other loved ones, and their friends and neighbors. Those who are left behind are also victims. They have been robbed of their loved ones by cowardly criminals who sit in our prison for years at taxpayer expense.
I am proud to honor those fallen officers that I knew personally, and those that I have never met, those who gave their lives years ago, and those who are even now honoring their fallen comrades, and who will yet give their lives in the line of duty. It is a comfort, even though sobering, to know that brave men and women are willing to serve and protect the rest of us, even if the price for this service is their very lives.
May God watch over the officers, the men and women that make up the Thin Blue Line, and may God's angels be waiting to bear the fallen over to the other side, while comforting those left behind.
And may God Bless America
Even as a rebellious teen I was struck with sadness when an officer was slain in the line of duty. No, I did not like getting traffic tickets, and yes, I made fun of home town officers in my little town, as did most of the idiots I ran with. But I always admired police officers from afar, always felt I could depend on an officer to help me if I were in trouble. And I always believed it was the ultimate act of disregard for the law, for people, and for the officer himself, when someone shot an officer, overpowered a jailer or prison guard, or murdered any other officer.
One of the first officers of whose death I was really aware was DPS Trooper Hollie Tull on September 14, 1974. In Temple Texas on that fateful day Trooper Tull stopped a vehicle occupied by two men who had just committed an armed robbery and executed three persons during that robbery. As Trooper Tull approached the vehicle, one of the occupants shot him twice with a shotgun. The Trooper was able to return to his vehicle and retrieve his own shotgun, but was shot several times by the other occupant who had followed Tull back to his vehicle. Even then, Trooper Tull struggled with this man while using his radio to alert other officers. Hollie Tull died that day, but his action probably saved the lives of other officers and civilians as well, since the robber/killers would no doubt commit more crimes as they attempted to flee Texas and return to Oklahoma, their home state. As is usually the case, when these two cowardly animals were confronted by several officers, they (as is so oft repeated) "meekly surrendered" and were taken into custody. In what can only be called an unfathomable decision, both men, after receiving the death penalty (FOUR MURDERS), had their sentences commuted to life. They may well be alive today in prison. I will not waste any time researching that or otherwise dignifying these two who should be long dead and off the state expense roll.
In Texas, one of the most dangerous states in which a peace officer can serve, the annual death toll of peace officers reaches the double digits. Only California occasionally surpasses Texas in the number of officers slain each year. The other three most dangerous states are New York, Florida, and Louisiana during an average year. Of course, correctional officers are in constant danger throughout their shift, and Texas has lost its share of correctional officers over the years. My cousin's husband, a correctional officer in Beeville, was murdered on the job in December, 1999. His killer is STILL sitting on death row.
I became a police officer in Waco in 1981. Just over a year later, in July 1982, one of my fellow academy mates was shot in an alley near the infamous downtown bus station, where two other officers had lost their lives in the past decades. Frank Gentsch III, now a ranking officer with that department, survived the shooting...and for the rest of us, it was suddenly very real that someone might try to shoot or otherwise injure one of us at any time. A year or so later another officer, Bud Thurman, was shot while stopping a robbery. He survived and returned to work a few weeks later.
Then it happened. On August 29, 1989 Robert (Bobby) Vicha was killed at his residence just as he returned from work. Bobby was shot in ambush by his sister's estranged husband. This man had brutally murdered Bobby's elderly parents just before ambushing Bobby. Myself and other officers had to stand by helplessly as a police dragnet encompassed three counties. Within a couple of hours the killer was spotted. He crashed in the subsequent chase but escaped serious injury. He was sentenced to death but with the usual appeal process he remained on death row.
I left police work in 1992 but a few years later I found myself working alongside police officers when I became a member of the first response interdepartmental team, including CPS, local police, and the sheriff's offices of several counties around Midland. In 2004 I had the great pleasure of meeting and working with Detective Arlie Jones of the Odessa Police Department. This officer never looked at child welfare investigations as "cases." These were valuable and vulnerable children, and Arlie was passionate about protecting them, and prosecuting their abusers when possible. Our lives diverged as I left the agency and Arlie was promoted to sergeant in the patrol division of the Police Department. I never saw Arlie again although I spoke to him by phone a couple of times. On September 8, 2007 news interrupted local programming with the announcement that three officers had been killed in Odessa when they responded to a domestic disturbance. Arlie Jones and Corporal Scott Gardner were literally cut in half by shotgun blasts when they knocked at the door of Larry White's house. A third officer, Abel Marguez, was blasted THROUGH THE WALL of the house when White heard him calling out to the fallen officers. Officers who came to the aid of the three fallen officers found Arlie, and the last thing he said was that they needed to check on the other two officers. After a standoff lasting several hours, White finally came out of the house. The senselessness of these murders was aggravated by the fact that White was a bitter, dying old man. He died of cancer before being brought to trial,
In 2012 I began my employment in the Security Department of Midland Memorial Hospital. I met several police officers between 2012 and 2014 there, but one officer that I grew to respect very much was a sergeant with the Midland County Sheriff's Office. Michael Naylor was a very special officer, one who truly cared about the people with whom he had contact. He was especially concerned with the treatment of mentally ill or emotionally disturbed persons. Sergeant Naylor was responsible for creating and overseeing the new Mental Health Officer program. In this capacity he trained other officers to deal with mental patients in a more humane, more understanding way, and that promoted the least use of force possible when dealing with the mentally ill. Sergeant Naylor was respected by his peers, by us in the Security Department, and by the medical professionals at the hospital. His efforts not only helped those who were vulnerable but advanced the treatment of the mentally by law enforcement in the Permian Basin area. On October 9, 2014 Sergeant Naylor and other officers learned that a wanted child predator was in a certain house in west Midland County. Sergeant Naylor and another deputy saw the fugitive in the kitchen of the residence and tried to talk to him. At first the man would not communicate with the officers. Sergeant Naylor knocked out a portion of a window so that he and the man could talk virtually face to face. Sergeant Naylor pointed out that the house was surrounded and tried to talk the man into coming out on his own. Without any provocation or warning the fugitive suddenly drew a pistol and shot Sergeant Naylor in the head. The other deputy and deputies in the yard carried Sergeant Naylor to a waiting ambulance. He was transported to the very hospital where he had worked so diligently with mentally ill persons. Sergeant Naylor never regained consciousness and died within the next hour. Meanwhile, the fugitive eventually came to the door, begging officers not to shoot him. And by their professional training and their integrity as police officers, these men and women were able to show great restraint. The fugitive was arrested and of course now is on the state dole while state paid lawyers still work at having his sentence reduced or his case thrown out.
Since Michael Naylor's murder in 2014 many more officers have given their lives in Texas while serving as Texas Peace Officers. Even now, in 2017, two officers have fallen in Texas, with many others wounded or assaulted in the line of duty. Officers all over Texas, while never forgetting their fallen colleagues, take time during this special week to remember their fallen friends as well as fallen officers around the nation that they will never know, but with whom they are joined in spirit and by the badge they carry.
The officers who gave their lives left behind their colleagues to carry on, but they also left behind their spouses, their children, their parents and other loved ones, and their friends and neighbors. Those who are left behind are also victims. They have been robbed of their loved ones by cowardly criminals who sit in our prison for years at taxpayer expense.
I am proud to honor those fallen officers that I knew personally, and those that I have never met, those who gave their lives years ago, and those who are even now honoring their fallen comrades, and who will yet give their lives in the line of duty. It is a comfort, even though sobering, to know that brave men and women are willing to serve and protect the rest of us, even if the price for this service is their very lives.
May God watch over the officers, the men and women that make up the Thin Blue Line, and may God's angels be waiting to bear the fallen over to the other side, while comforting those left behind.
And may God Bless America
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