I am happy to report that the past week was rather boring, after reviewing the 46 service calls I didn’t really find anything interesting. Officers issued 27 traffic citations with 8 of those being for no insurance. I guess if you pay your vehicle insurance monthly you can skip a month and pick up a little extra cash for Christmas gifts. You just have to hope you don’t get stopped or end up in an accident, unfortunately this really happens. No property crimes were reported and we only had one arrest. The arrest was from a theft case we worked, the female turned herself in and was booked into the Atascosa Co. Jail. A report was taken for a debit card abuse that occurred in the Houston area and other than that it was routine stuff like vehicle unlocks (2), suspicious activity calls (7), assist EMS (4), civil matter (4) and minor accidents (2). I expect our property crimes to increase as we move closer to Christmas. Our department will be increasing open business checks and modifying patrol procedures to help keep crooks out of Lytle.
We have a couple of our officers I want to recognize for their accomplishments. Lt. Matthew Dear just completed his 15th year of service with our department. Wow it seems like just yesterday that he was submitting his application. I’m sure that if you ask him about his career he will tell you that his favorite part of the job is working with me and that he is thankful that I took the time to “mold” him into the peace officer he is today. But please don’t ask him because he gets emotional and may start to cry. Officer David Lopez was just awarded his Intermediate Peace Officer certificate by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement. The certificate is based on years of service and hours of training and additionally requires the completion of 16 specific classes that range in length from 2 – 32 hours. Like Lt. Dear, David appreciates me “molding” him too. I want to congratulate both of these officers for reaching these mile stones in their careers, keep up the good work guys.
Last week Lt. Dear and I attended a fire marshal conference in Pasadena (TX). There were about 175 fire marshals in attendance and we gained knowledge and refreshed our memory. The 2 ½ day seminar included a full 8 hours of training on plan review and code enforcement of emergency exits and lighting. It may not sound so exciting but it’s pretty important when an emergency strikes.
It’s hard to believe it but our annual City of Lytle Holiday Hay Ride is quickly approaching. The big day is Saturday, November 25 (the Saturday after Thanksgiving) and as usual the event will be held at the Lytle Community Center on Priest Blvd. with a start time of 6 PM (that is when Santa arrives). The admission fee is $1 or a canned food, children must be accompanied by parent or guardian to go on the hayride and refreshments will be served. If you have never been before this is a very popular event, we load everyone up on trailers and make a loop through town. It is the closest thing we have to a mass transit system, but it only happens once a year and you end up where you started from. I guess for a buck what do expect? Get there early because if you don’t make it for the first round we tend to speed up on the second round and you may want to wear a helmet.