South Plains College hosted the annual Peace Officer Memorial Service May 3 with keynote speaker Texas Regional Manager for ALERRT for regions four and five Sam Stock to honor law enforcement officers who lost their life while protecting and serving the community.
Sam Stock spoke about the number of peace officers killed nationally and in Texas during 2022.
“The memorial is held annually. It is to recognize slain peace officers throughout the state of Texas and nationally,” Stock said. “This year we lost 245 peace officers nationally and in the state of Texas we’ve lost 35 in 2022.”
Stock believes it is important to honor those that have died while serving their communities. He also believes it is important for the community to recognize the loss.
“Being a retired peace officer and having lost commrads in the profession, this means a great deal to me. It’s an honor to speak on the behalf of those that have been lost and also gain some recognition so the community can realize and recognize the loss.”
Stock explained Florida led the nation in peace officer fatalities but now Texas has continued to be ranked number one nationally.
“I can remember when I was in the academy many years ago and Florida was in the same place that we are right now,” Stock said. “They were annually losing peace officers and I can remember saying to myself ‘man, who would want to work in Florida?’Now, here we are in Texas, and we’ve led the nation over the last several years as far as officer involved deaths.”
South Plains College Instructor of Law Enforcement Technology Nick Goree explained that having academy students honor those that died can aide the students in gaining a better understanding of their role in the community.
“This gives them an understanding of how important this job is to our communities; how important it is to their families and ultimately what could happen as part of this job and career choice,” Goree said.
Goree said that the academy motto and the memorial service help instill the basis of why peace officers choose to protect the public.
“One of our mottos here while we train academy students is ‘honor the fallen by training the living’ and to have our academy students out here to honor these 35 induvial that gave their life in 2022 is very important and a basis of why we are doing what we’re doing,” Goree said.
Levelland Chief of Police Albert Garcia expressed the importance of honoring those that have come to Levelland’s aide.
“For us in Levelland it’s particularly hard for us. We lost Sergeant Bartlett here in Levelland back in 2021 and we had other officers that were injured during that terrible event and it’s important for us to show how much we honor our fallen officers, especially those that have come to our aide here in Levelland like Sergeant Bartlett,” Garcia said. “We have so many people that come to Levelland, so many different agencies that support us and staff members that continue to support the Levelland Police Department, the City of Levelland and our citizens. We want to make sure that their families know that we still think about them daily and we are gonna do all that we can to honor them.”
Garcia also believes South Plains College helps students gain a better understanding of their role in the community by honoring those that have died.
“South Plains College does a fantastic job in preparing future cadets and law enforcement personnel to understand what it is to lose an officer and I think that’s one of the biggest reasons that South Plains College does a fantastic job of producing police officers for the entire state of Texas,” Garcia said. “The academy we have at South Plains College is one of the best - if not the best - in this region and we have students that come from all over the state to attend South Plains College academy for law enforcement.”
Garcia is thankful that South Plains College continues to honor those that have died with the annual memorial and the role the college plays in the community.
“As a police officer and community member for Levelland, it shows how much South Plains College gives back to the community,” Garcia said. “They are always doing things for our community. They always team up with the City of Levelland and our staff members.”