Last Friday night I had the pleasure of attending my department's annual awards banquet. I figure you all know what that is about, so I won't go into it here. The thing is, I had prior reservations and when I arrived I was seated at table #1, a table that had 10 seats. That table included my boss, the Constable, his second, the Chief Deputy, a State Representative, a County Commissioner (1 of 4 in the county) and a community leader. I was shocked! I was even more shocked when the Constable said a few kind words about me during his speech. This was the greatest honor of my career.
There was a lot of power at that table. Harris County is the third largest county in the United States and the department is the largest Constable's office in the United States and the 14th largest law enforcement agency in the State of Texas at over 500 personnel. When I was first sworn in way back in 1981, we were a department of 45. What a change!
I was surprised at the number of life saving awards and I was surprised at the number of awards for valor that involved shooting incidents. Proud of the deputies involved but dismayed at the number of incidents. We didn't have nearly as many during my career. It is because of crime moving into the county from the City of Houston. I am proud the new, young, guys are handling it well. That means our training division is doing its job. I was once responsible for that division.
Remember, I retired at the end of 2014. I am still a reserve deputy, but it is mostly honorary due to my career.
No wisecracks about the picture!
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Originally Posted by CactusCurt
...Ben
...Ben
...Ben
...Ben
...Ben
