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The
following information was prepared by Doug Hudson for
departments who are planning on participating in the
services this year.
Please be
attentive to the dates and times associated with the
activities scheduled over the two-day period.
2009 Candlelight Vigil:
The
Candlelight Vigil will be held at the site of the Texas
Peace Officers' Memorial Monument on Sunday, May 3, 2009
at 8:00 p.m. A Roll Call of Officers will be conducted at
the start of this service. The names that will be read are
from the approved list provided by the Texas Commission on
Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education (TCLEOSE).
The Roll Call of Officers will be conducted according to
alphabetical order by department. Assigned personnel will
read the names of the deceased officers. The list will
contain the phonetic spelling of the deceased officer's
names in an effort to eliminate mispronunciation errors.
After the Roll Call of Officers has been completed, there
will be a short program honoring those officers who have
paid the supreme sacrifice while in the performance of their
duties. There will be a wreath laying ceremony by the
members of COPS representing the Metroplex Chapter, South
Texas Chapter, and the Greater Houston Chapter.
If your
department has a support group, such as the COPS
organization, please advise them or the individual survivor
family members from your department of the upcoming
ceremonies. With your assistance, we can notify as many
survivor family members as possible.
Please don't confuse the 2009 Candlelight Vigil with the
2009 Texas State Peace Officers' Memorial Service that will
be conducted on Monday, May 4, 2007.
The Concerns of Police Survivors organizations will have
three chapters from the state of Texas represented at the
candlelight vigil. Contact with these chapters may be
directed to the following COPS personnel:
-
Ms.
Cathy Hill, who is the President for the Greater Houston
COPS Chapter in the Houston area, may be contacted at
19531 Creek Bend Drive, Spring, Texas 77388. Her telephone
number is (281) 300-4131, email
cathyjhill@sbcglobal.net.
-
Ms.
Gilda Garza, who is the President for the South Texas COPS
Chapter in the San Antonio area, may be contacted at 7722
Braun Way, San Antonio, Texas 78250. Her telephone number is
(210) 325-7386.
-
Ms.
Kristina Montet, who is the President of the Metroplex
COPS Chapter in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, may be
contacted at P.O. Box 182922 Arlington, Texas 76096. Her
telephone number is (817) 229-3968.
-
Ms. Sherlynn Kelley,
who is the President of the Central Texas COPS Chapter in
Austin, may be contacted at P.O. Box 18241, Austin,
Texas 78760. Her telephone number is (512) 423-3462, email
tkelley2@austin.rr.com.
The
overall organization of the Candlelight Vigil will be
coordinated by hrough myself (address and telephone # listed
below) or Officer David E. Freytag of the Houston Police
Honor Guard.
Officer Freytag may be contacted at the following telephone
# 713-681-9094.
Further changes, if applicable, will be made available at a
later date.
2009
Texas State Peace Officers' Memorial Service
The 2009 Texas Peace Officers' Memorial Service will be
held on Monday, May 4, 2009 at the south doors to the
State Capitol Building at 12:00 noon. Pre-memorial service
activities will begin at 10:30 a.m.
COLOR
GUARDS
Sgt. Bruce Johnson of the Houston Police Department
Honor Guard will serve as the Officer in Charge (OIC) for
the assembly of the Color Guards, Solo Motorcycles, and
Bicycle Officers. He can be contacted at the Congress Avenue
and 1st Street Assembly site to answer any questions on the
day of the Memorial Service.
The color guard teams will be aligned according to
the lottery system that has been used over the past years.
This seemed to be the fairest way to align the Color Guard
teams. There will be a meeting of the Color Guard commanders
or leaders in the Topaz Room at the Embassy Suites Hotel on
Monday, May 7, 2007 at 8:00 a.m.
At this meeting the drawings for placements in the
processional will take place. If you do not attend this
meeting, your Color Guard team will be aligned on a last
come, last served basis, behind the other Color Guard teams.
The Color Guard commanders or leaders should prepare their
teams to march for a distance of 17 blocks or approximately
one and a half miles. There will be the normal parade pace
of a 120-count cadence. Make sure that the teams are capable
of making their turns without coming to a "mark time"
position. This causes the Color Teams that are behind to
bottle up and the front teams to march away from the other
teams creating large gaps in the Color Guard Processional.
We are expecting a large turn out as we have had in the
past. Staying in step with each other is imperative.
The Color Guard teams will be aligned behind the Bicycle
officers and follow those officers to the Capitol Building
where they will be aligned at a pre-determined location at
the south doors to the Capitol Building.
Motorcycles
The "solo"
,motorcycles will be coordinated through Sgt. Bruce
Lutringer of the Austin Police Department. The assembly of
motorcycle officers will begin at 10:00 a.m. on the Congress
Avenue Bridge at its intersection with Cesar Chavez Street.
Once assembled the solo motorcycle officers will lead the
processional to the Capitol Building where they will
conclude their ride to a pre-determined assembly location on
Colorado Street, adjacent to the Capitol.
Blue Knights
All Blue Knight representatives are welcome to
participate in this ceremony. DJ Alvarez will serve as the
liaison person for the Blue Knight representatives his
contact information is 281-642-8716 or email
blueknightstx31@aol.com. His address is 2110 Shoal Lake
Court League City, Texas 77573. The same criteria will
remain in effect for these officers. Appropriate dress is
required. All Blue Knight representatives will ride solo,
with approved helmets being mandatory. Mr.Alvarez will
coordinate the activities associated with the Blue Knight
representatives with Sgt. Lutringer.
Bicycles
The
bicycle patrol officers alignment will be coordinated
through Officer Steve Bazany of the San Antonio Police
Department. Officer Bazany can be contacted at the San
Antonio Police Department, Foot and Bicycle Patrol Division,
10 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. shift. His address is 240 East Houston,
San Antonio, Texas. Telephone number (0ffice) 210.207.7764
or cell phone # 210-389-4602. Officer Bazany is responsible
for the orderly alignment of the bicycle patrol officers.
Bicycle
patrol officers will meet at Congress Avenue and Cesar
Chavez Street at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, May 4th, 2009 for
alignment into the processional. The bicycle patrol
processional will align themselves behind the solo
motorcycle officers and follow behind them to the Capitol
Building, where they will assemble on Colorado Street behind
the solo motorcycle officers. The bicycle officers will
secure their bicycles on Colorado Street and proceed to the
memorial site for formation alignment.
The
Department of Public Safety / Capitol Division will have
officers stationed on Colorado Street for security purposes.
Any correspondence concerning the bicycle processional
should be directed to Officer Bazany, but the final
decisions concerning alignment, proper dress, and proper
memorial service protocol will come from the planning staff
of the Texas Peace Officers' Memorial Service.
This is a formal ceremony and discretion should be used in
selecting the appropriate uniform for the day.
Bagpipers
Any officers who want to participate in the Bagpiper
Processional please contact Officer Todd Bircher of the
Austin Police Department at 512-974-5029 or email at
todd.bircher@ci.austin.tx.us.
Please Note:
This is a formal ceremony and it is not to be taken as a
'rally' for motorcycle and bicycle officers. The use of duty
related motorcycles and departmental approved bicycles would
be one of the criteria to participate in this ceremony. All
officers will wear their departmental uniform while
participating in this ceremony with an approved helmet.
The processional will proceed from the Congress Avenue
assembly area and will follow an established route up
Congress Avenue to the south entrance to the Capitol
complex. After the processional assumes their assigned
positions at the Capitol Building, the usual memorial
service format will take place.
Roll
Call Officers
Officers that are coming to the memorial service as a
"Roll Call Officer" or as a "Stand in Officer",
please report to Sgt. Steve Bynum of the Texas Department of
Public Safety Honor Guard on Monday, May 4th, 2009, no later
than 11:00 a.m. You will meet on the lower area to the left
of the podium. Sgt. Bynum will have a list to check in the
Roll Call Officers.
There will be no registration of the "Roll Call Officers"
or "Stand in Officers" at the Omni Hotel.
If you are not in place at the Capitol Building, as a
"Roll Call Officer" or "Stand In Officer" another
uniformed officer will replace you.
Please wear your department's class "A" uniform. Those
departments who do not have uniforms may either wear a
business suit or a sport coat and slacks with a tie.
Hotel
The Omni Hotel will serve as the host hotel.
The hotel is located at 700 San Jacinto Street, Austin,
Texas 78701. Telephone # 512-476-3700. A block of rooms has
been reserved, use the the name "Police Memorial". It
is necessary to use this code name to receive the special
room rate. Officers should make their room reservations
early. Room rates are $149.00 per night, for either king
size or double beds. The room block expires on April 19,
2009.
All COPS
family functions will be held at the Omni Hotel.
Additional room will be available at the La Quinta Hotel
located at 300 E. 11th Street. Telephone #
512-476-1166.
As you can see there will be a lot of activity on Sunday,
May 3rd, 2009 and Monday, May 4th, 2009. So make your plans
accordingly. Further plans may be issued, if needed, at a
later date.
The Planning Staff must authorize any amendments to the
above listed criteria concerning the sequence of events,
alignments, uniforms, etc.
If you have any questions regarding the information
mentioned above please feel free to contact me at the Peace
Officers' Memorial Foundation office in Houston, Texas.
Telephone # 281-880-8282. Fax # 281-880-9998. You may also
contact me on my pager at 713-549-7399.
Douglas M. Hudson
Asst. Commander, Harris County Sheriff's Office Honor Guard
State Coordinator, 2009 Texas Peace Officers' Memorial
Service and Candlelight Vigil at the State Capitol
701 North San Jacinto (First Watch/3rd Floor)
Houston, Texas 77002 |
