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Serving the Coastal Bend and it's Officers Since 1966.
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There's A New Sheriff In Town
Justin Marr Sworn in As Interim Victoria County Sheriff
Justin Marr was sworn into office as interim Victoria County sheriff on Monday.
As the top law enforcement official in Victoria County, the sheriff is also a “central figure in our entire region in the law enforcement community,” said County Judge Ben Zeller. Victoria County commissioners unanimously voted to appoint Marr as interim sheriff during their meeting Monday morning.
Marr was sworn in during a short ceremony at DeLeon Plaza on Monday afternoon. A crowd of about 200 people that included government leaders, law enforcement officials and county residents attended the ceremony.
“There are few elected positions in Texas more important than that of a county sheriff, especially in the times that we’re living in,” Zeller said before swearing in Marr.
Marr, a career Victoria County sheriff’s office employee with two decades of experience, beat opponent Dale Fowler after receiving about 66% of the votes in the primary runoff election on July 14.
Marr said Monday he appreciated the support he’s received that has helped get him to the office.
“You people are the ones that put me here,” he told the crowd.
It’s a challenging time for Marr to step into office, Zeller said, given the ongoing challenges including COVID-19, struggles with recruitment and retention, unsettled times and a “disturbing disrespect that you see in today’s culture for men and women in uniform.”
“But I’ll tell you this,” Zeller said, “it’s in these times when his leadership and his experience will be the most important and the most valuable.”
With a “great team at the sheriff’s office,” Marr said he was up for the challenge.
“I look forward to continuing to lead them in this capacity and take those challenges that the judge talked about head on,” he said.
Marr will be the Republican nominee for sheriff on the November ballot. He remains unopposed. His elected term as sheriff would begin Jan. 1.
Marr was appointed as interim sheriff to fill the vacancy left by former Sheriff T. Michael O’Connor, who resigned from the sheriff’s office to accept a nomination from President Donald Trump as the U.S. Marshal for the Southern District of Texas.
Since then, O’Connor’s chief deputy, Roy Boyd, has served as interim leader of the Victoria County Sheriff’s Office. Boyd resigned from the position prior to Marr’s swearing-in ceremony.
IMPORTANT NOTICE
Due to the recent spike in the COVID-19 virus, the CBPOA Board of Directors have voted to cancel the July 23, 2020 meeting which was scheduled to be held in Live Oak County. We hope to see all in Nueces County in October. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
When protesters cry 'defund the police,' what does it mean?
By Michael Balsamo- Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Protesters are pushing to “defund the police" over the death of George Floyd and other black Americans killed by law enforcement. Their chant has become a rallying cry — and a stick for President Donald Trump to use on Democrats as he portrays them as soft on crime.
But what does “defund the police” mean? It’s not necessarily about gutting police department budgets.
WHAT IS THE ‘DEFUND THE POLICE’ MOVEMENT?
Supporters say it isn’t about eliminating police departments or stripping agencies of all of their money. They say it is time for the country to address systemic problems in policing in America and spend more on what communities across the U.S. need, like housing and education.
State and local governments spent $115 billion on policing in 2017, according to data compiled by the Urban Institute.
“Why can’t we look at how it is that we reorganize our priorities, so people don’t have to be in the streets during a national pandemic?" Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza asked during an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Activists acknowledge this is a gradual process.
The group MPD150, which says it is “working towards a police-free Minneapolis,” argues that such action would be more about “strategically reallocating resources, funding, and responsibility away from police and toward community-based models of safety, support, and prevention.”
“The people who respond to crises in our community should be the people who are best equipped to deal with those crises,” the group wrote on its website.
WHAT ARE LAWMAKERS SAYING?
Sen. Cory Booker said he understands the sentiment behind the slogan, but it's not a slogan he will use.
The New Jersey Democrat told NBC's “Meet the Press” that he shares a feeling with many protesters that Americans are “over-policed” and that “we are investing in police, which is not solving problems, but making them worse when we should be, in a more compassionate country, in a more loving country.”
Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, said part of the movement is really about how money is spent.
“Now, I don’t believe that you should disband police departments,” she said in an interview with CNN. “But I do think that, in cities, in states, we need to look at how we are spending the resources and invest more in our communities.
“Maybe this is an opportunity to re-envision public safety,” she said.
President Donald Trump and his campaign view the emergence of the “Defund the Police” slogan as a spark of opportunity during what has been a trying political moment. Trump’s response to the protests has sparked widespread condemnation. But now his supporters say the new mantra may make voters, who may be otherwise sympathetic to the protesters, recoil from a “radical” idea.
Trump ramped up his rhetoric on the issue on Monday, tweeting: “LAW & ORDER, NOT DEFUND AND ABOLISH THE POLICE. The Radical Left Democrats have gone Crazy!”
Trump’s 2016 campaign was built on a promise of ensuring law and order — often in contrast to protests against his rhetoric that followed him across the country. As he seeks reelection, Trump is preparing to deploy the same argument again — and seems to believe the “defund the police” call has made the campaign applause line all the more real for his supporters.
IS THERE ANY PUSH TO ACTUALLY DEFUND POLICE DEPARTMENTS?
Yes, or at least to reduce their budgets in some major cities.
In New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Sunday that the city would move funding from the NYPD to youth initiatives and social services, while keeping the city safe, but he didn't give details.
In Los Angeles, Mayor Eric Garcetti vowed to cut as much as $150 million that was part of a planned increase in the police department’s budget.
A Minneapolis city councilmember said in a tweet on Thursday that the city would “dramatically rethink how we approach public safety and emergency response.”
“We are going to dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department,” Jeremiah Ellison wrote. “And when we’re done, we’re not simply gonna glue it back together." He did not explain what would replace the police department.
A majority of the members of the Minneapolis City Council said Sunday they support disbanding the city’s police department. Nine of the council’s 12 members appeared with activists at a rally in a city park Sunday afternoon and vowed to end policing as the city currently knows it.
“It is clear that our system of policing is not keeping our communities safe,” Lisa Bender, the council president, said. “Our efforts at incremental reform have failed, period.”
Disbanding an entire department has happened before. In 2012, with crime rampant in Camden, New Jersey, the city disbanded its police department and replaced it with a new force that covered Camden County. Compton, California, took the same step in 2000, shifting its policing to Los Angeles County.
HOW HAVE POLICE OFFICIALS AND UNIONS RESPONDED?
Generally, police and union officials have long resisted cuts to police budgets, arguing that it would make cities less safe.
The Los Angeles Police Protective League, the union for the city's rank-and-file officers, said budget cuts would be the “quickest way to make our neighborhoods more dangerous.”
“Cutting the LAPD budget means longer responses to 911 emergency calls, officers calling for back-up won’t get it, and rape, murder and assault investigations won’t occur or will take forever to initiate, let alone complete,” the union’s board said in a statement last week.
“At this time, with violent crime increasing, a global pandemic and nearly a week’s worth of violence, arson, and looting, ‘defunding’ the LAPD is the most irresponsible thing anyone can propose.”
Agencies Grapple With COVID-19's Impact on Public Safety
The novel coronavirus continues to spread across the United States, with over 217,000 confirmed cases and 5,148 deaths in 49 states as of 12:30 p.m. EST April 2, according to a tracker from Johns Hopkins University.
While social distancing measures and stay-at-home orders have been implemented across much of the country, many “essential workers” and first responders remain in their jobs, taking on active roles in their communities — in situations where they risk contracting coronavirus themselves. These workers include doctors, nurses, carers, farmworkers, cleaners, grocery store workers and transportation workers to name just a few, as well as those people employed by police departments and sheriffs’ offices, whose duties now increasingly include imposing social distancing and shelter-in-place measures in circumstances that mean it’s hard to practice them.
“We have always been more at risk for violence because of our profession and now I think we are more at risk of [the] virus because of our profession,” Chicago Interim Police Superintendent Charlie Beck said at an April 2 press conference, confirming the first COVID-19-associated death among the Chicago Police Department’s ranks.
Sheriff Daron Hall, President of the National Sheriff’s Association and Sheriff of Davidson County, Tenn. says that, amid the pandemic, law enforcement officers are trying to strike a balancing act between protecting civilians and protecting themselves.
New Hoof Patrol Program
San Patricio County S.O. is teaming up with Jim Wells, Bee & Refugio Counties on a Loose Livestock & Fence Damage program. These other counties have an active program in place that is aimed to help ranchers with animals that come loose. The program will be promoted through the Texas & Southwestern Cattle Association and the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. They will start promoting the program soon with meetings at various locations. They plan to assign a deputy to manage the program & check on these ranches & extend the program to farmers as well. There is NO cost to Rancher or Farmer & San Patricio S.O. will provide the plate & registration.
2020 Scheduled Meetings and Hosts
May 2020 (MEETING CANCELLED)
Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, our May 2020 meeting, originally scheduled to be hosted by Victoria S.O. has been cancelled. Keep up for future updates on the next meeting.
July 23, 2020 (MEETING CANCELLED)
Meeting to be hosted by the Live Oak County Sheriff's Office.
October 22, 2020
Meeting to be hosted by the Nueces County Sheriff's Office.
2020 CBPOA Officers
Congratulations to the following officers elected for the 2020 business year:
President: Derek Franco
1st Vice-President: Sheriff Pinky Gonzales
2nd Vice-Presidnet: Adrian Rodriguez
1st Sr. Dir: John Davis
2nd Sr. Dir: Sheriff Richard Kirkpatrick
1st Jr. Dir: Danny Lorberau
2nd Jr. Dir: Lou Villagomez
Chairman of the Board: Alden Southmayd
Sgt At Arms: Roy Boyd
Secretary/Treasurer: Charity Franco
Chaplain: Rev. T. Wayne Price
Scholarship Chairman: Larry Busby
12 facts that a supervisor is a bleeder, not a leader
Don't be the supervisor who bleeds the enthusiasm out of the officers you are supposed to lead
There are many truly inspiring police leaders, but there are a few who with their words become soul-crushing empty uniforms with rank.
Here are 12 examples of enthusiasm-bleeding statements made too often by “leaders.”
1. While pointing at their stripes on their sleeve, or bars on their collar they declare, “Because these say so.”
Have you ever suggested an alternative way to handle a call and had a commander point at their stripes or bars and say, “We’ll do it my way because these say so?”
End of discussion.
2. “We’ve always done it this way.”
There are times when officers come forward with a plan to solve a reoccurring problem in an innovative way and their suggestion is met with, “Why change the status quo? We have always done it this way.”
End of suggestions. The next three go together.
3. “Slow down. There is no extra pay for making the most arrests.”
4. “Big arrests, big problems, little arrests, little problems, no arrest, no problem.”
5. “If you keep that up (referring to a high volume of self-initiated activity), they are going to expect that of you every night.”
These three statements have been heard by most proactive police officers who love what they are doing and are extremely active on the street. Some supervisors look at very active officers as a problem rather than a solution and feel it’s their mission to slow them down. The sad thing is, these statements often come from peers as well.
6. “The job will never love you back.”
If any officer lets it slip that they love their job, there will be that wise old supervisor, who will point out, “The job will never love you back.”
Mic drop!
7. "Did you make that arrest 15 minutes before quitting time just for the overtime?"
Many officers never lose sight of their duty. For example, they realize that arresting an impaired driver saves lives.
No officer motivated to aggressively pursue an impaired driver will hesitate to arrest said driver 15 minutes before quitting time. These officers eventually run into a commander who will suggest their motivation for the arrest was to “pad their check with overtime.”
8. “Do as I say, not as I do.”
Even though every leadership course in the nation says, “Don’t say this; lead by example,” there seems to be no silencing this refrain.
9. “If I’d have been there, I would have….”
Nothing irks a street officer more than when this statement is made by a commander who has maneuvered into a position where they will never have to handle a life-threatening call again. The statement is made worse when this commander does not even supervise the officers who handled the high-profile, life-threatening situation that he or she is criticizing. These personally boastful statements serve only to give officers that hear them a sense no one has their back.
When the actions of the officers are found to be justified, this unnecessary Monday morning quarterbacking will get back to the officers involved in the critical incident and it becomes a source of pain.
10. “You’re not a social worker!”
There are times in every officer’s career when they are moved to go above and beyond for a little boy, a little girl or even an entire family in need. They are motivated by the caring spirit that brought them to this profession.
An officer may take a Christmas tree to a house. They may buy a pair of shoes for a homeless man or drop off a couple of chili dogs to a down-and-out traveler. Most will see the extra effort as laudatory, but there will be that one commander who will proclaim, “You’re not a social worker!”
The truth is police officers are the only social workers who make house calls 24-7. Most of you are pretty damn good at it also, so keep up the good work!
11. “You can’t make a difference. When a cop leaves this job it’s like pulling your hand out of a bucket of water. No one will even notice you were here.”
Really? A cop can’t make a difference?
What about the officers who have dragged people out of burning cars?
What about the officers who have saved lives with Narcan and tourniquets, or delivered babies?
What about the officers who keep many women from being beaten or killed at domestics every night of the week?
What about the Dayton officers who dropped an active shooter just as he was about to enter a crowded night club?
American police officers do make a difference!
12. “Have you scheduled the lobotomy yet?”
Street officers can demoralize a new supervisor as well by asking in response to the announcement of their promotion, “Have they scheduled the lobotomy yet?” This can be especially troubling when the comment comes from a good friend.
Instead, consider saying, “Congratulations my friend. You earned it.”
CONCLUSION
The people who say these things are not being leaders. They are choosing to be bleeders. They bleed the enthusiasm out of the officers they are supposed to lead.
To supervisors who say these things, learn to be better.
To officers who these things are said to remember to not let anyone keep you from doing what you love and loving what you do. When you hear statements like these just remind yourself not all supervisors are leaders and not all leaders are supervisors.
And then, regardless of your rank, be a leader.
About the author
Lt. Dan Marcou is an internationally-recognized police trainer who was a highly-decorated police officer with 33 years of full-time law enforcement experience. Marcou’s awards include Police Officer of the Year, SWAT Officer of the Year, Humanitarian of the Year and Domestic Violence Officer of the Year. Upon retiring, Lt. Marcou began writing. He is a co-author of “Street Survival II, Tactics for Deadly Encounters,” which is now available. His novels, “The Calling, the Making of a Veteran Cop,” “SWAT, Blue Knights in Black Armor,” “Nobody’s Heroes” and Destiny of Heroes,” as well as his latest non-fiction offering, “Law Dogs, Great Cops in American History,” are all available at Amazon. Dan is a member of the PoliceOne Editorial Advisory Board.
CBPOA Mystery History
Can You Identify Early These CBPOA Members?
Do you know who any of these CBPOA members are? Click on the "OUR DIRECTORS/HISTORY" tab to find out more.
About Us
Serving the Coastal Bend and it's Officers Since 1966
Serving the Coastal Bend and it's Officers Since 1966
Serving the Coastal Bend and it's Officers Since 1966
"The purpose of the CBPOA shall be to promote the cooperation and understanding of all persons involved in the enforcement of laws of the State of Texas and of the United States; the continued and convenient interchange of information and training between various Federal, State and local agencies, and to conduct ourselves in a manner that
"The purpose of the CBPOA shall be to promote the cooperation and understanding of all persons involved in the enforcement of laws of the State of Texas and of the United States; the continued and convenient interchange of information and training between various Federal, State and local agencies, and to conduct ourselves in a manner that will gain the respect of those we serve and to constantly strive to improve our position.'
Scholarships
Serving the Coastal Bend and it's Officers Since 1966
Serving the Coastal Bend and it's Officers Since 1966
The Coastal Bend Peace Officers Association is responsible for awarding thousands of dollars of scholarship money each year to qualified and responsible sons and daughters of CBPOA members who wish to carry on the tradition of law enforcement and law enforcement related fields.
Our Members
Serving the Coastal Bend and it's Officers Since 1966
Our Members
Whether you help through provide meeting locations, volunteering your time, or spreading our mission through word-of-mouth, thank you. We couldn't accomplish our goals without the help of members like you.