DPS Memorial Service

The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) honored eight Texas law enforcement officers who lost their lives in the line of duty during the past year. The lives of these officers, including DPS Highway Patrol Trooper Javier Arana Jr., who was killed in a two-car collision in El Paso on March 24, were recognized at the DPS Peace Officer Memorial Service in Austin.

State Senator Steve Ogden provided a wonderful key note address. Below is a brief excerpt from his speech and you can read his entire remarks here.

“The thin blue line between the average American citizen and every imaginable kind of banditry, lawlessness, cruelty and chaos is firm and strong, but virtually impossible to most of us. It takes the loss of an officer in the line of duty to recall the risk that every officer takes every time he or she pins on the badge…Let us take from this memorial a renewed spirit of support for those who stand between us and those who would hurt us, who fight for freedom and justice, who work to make our country and our streets safe and free. Do not let them stand alone, unappreciated or forgotten. Stand with them and for them. Pray for them, encourage them and thank them.