SHADOWS OF THE BADGE

Helping those who have sworn to protect and serve

A Little About Me

I grew up in the small town of Jacksonville, Texas in a Christian family.  Two of my heroes growing up which I truly later realized were my grandparents, Alvin and Artie Peoples.  There are also many others who have contributed to my accomplishments.  I was raised to have good family values, we had family dinner almost ever Sunday after church with my grandparents.  I was also raised to give a honest days labor for that days pay, and not to mind giving that helping hand to assist your neighbor.  This is my helping hand to my brothers and sisters of the badge.  So many values in life have been lost, it is all about reward, and everyone wants to know “what is in it for me”.

 

On this site, my hopes and dreams are to not only to tell you how I ended up here, but to also provide links to sites which may be helpful on issues effecting law enforcement.  I do not have a fancy diploma on the wall, but I do have is a great deal of personal experience, some good and some bad.  I hope that by sharing this information I will be able to assist someone who may be going down the path to destruction that I was once on. 

 

I am currently a Law Enforcement officer and one of the coordinators for the  Critical Incident Stress Management Team with the agency I work for.  I have been in law enforcement since 1988, when I first began with Harker Heights, Texas Police Department as a reserve officer.  I have been interested in law enforcement since childhood and served as a law enforcement explorer for the Jacksonville, Texas Police Department.  I became a full time officer in Harker Heights in 1991 after returning from Operation Desert Storm, ending just over six years of active duty service with the United States Army. I obtained the rank of Patrol Sergeant before leaving Harker Heights Police Department in 1994, for a position as a State Trooper with the Texas Department of Public Safety.  I was trained and served as a Critical Incident Stress Management Team member since 1993, when I became certified through the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation.  I also served as SWAT team leader, narcotics officer, advisor for police explorer program, among many other duties.   I continued to work in CISM after becoming a member of the Texas Department of Public Safety and served on the State Team.  After leaving the Texas Department of Public Safety in 2002 I went to work for the agency I am now with, still working as a law enforcement officer. I have become a trainer through the National Police Suicide Foundation and devote time to educating other law enforcement officers in police suicide awareness, stress management and emotional survival.  I am also involved with Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (M.A.D.D.), providing awareness and education to young drivers and DWI offenders.  My hopes are to eventually pursue a degree in counseling in furtherance of my support for other law enforcement officers.  

 

Thanks to my  Family and my “BAND of Brothers & Sisters” who are always there for me.

I am truly thankful that during all of this when I had given up on Him, God did not give up on me.