DPS Memorial Service Honors
Slain, Injured Texas Officers

Twenty-three Texas law enforcement officers who died in the line of duty in 2001 and 2002-including one DPS trooper-were honored Tuesday at the DPS headquarters in Austin.

Cynthia Vetter, widow of slain Trooper Randall Vetter, placed a wreath at the Memorial Monument during the ceremony Tuesday morning. (Trooper Vetter was killed in August 2000 during a traffic stop in San Marcos.) Senior Trooper Richard Cottle, Vehicle Inspection Waco, who was killed last May in a traffic collision, also was honored in the roll call of fallen officers.

This is the seventeenth year that DPS has held a law enforcement memorial service. The survivors of DPS officers killed in the line of duty¾and DPS officers who have been injured in the line of duty¾are invited to the service each year.

"It's important for us all to remember the officers who gave their lives to protect the people of Texas," said Col. Thomas A. Davis Jr., director of the Department. "It is equally important to let their survivors know that we understand and value those sacrifices."

Gordon Manning, an Oklahoma Highway Patrolman critically injured in the line of duty in January 2001, was the guest speaker at the memorial service. Trooper Manning and his family were befriended by DPS Region I personnel during his recovery in a Texarkana hospital.

            These Texas peace officers were killed feloniously in 2002:

·        Captain George Scott Monier, White Settlement PD, killed while responding to disturbance call on 04/24/02

·         Sgt. Stephen Edward Davenport, Limestone County SO, killed in ambush on 05/02/02

 

            Other Texas peace officers who died on duty in 2002:

·        Deputy Larry Mack Dowdy, Coryell County SO, killed in traffic crash on 02/02/02

·        Officer Keith Dees, Houston PD, killed in traffic crash on 03/07/02

    

           These Texas peace officers were killed feloniously in 2001:

·        Officer John Anthony Riojas, San Antonio PD, injured on 02/02/01 while pursuing suspect on foot, died 02/03/01

·        Deputy Keith Ruiz, Travis County SO, killed serving drug warrant on 02/15/01

·        Officer Hector Garza, San Antonio PD, killed responding to disturbance call on 03/29/01

·        Lieutenant Clay Medrano, Harrison County SO, killed serving arrest warrant on 04/27/01  

·        Deputy Joseph Norman Dennis, Harris County SO, killed responding to disturbance call on 05/22/01

·        Officer Albert Vasquez, Houston PD, killed attempting drug arrests on 05/22/01

·        Deputy Jim Bruce Graham, Hemphill County SO, killed serving misdemeanor warrants on 06/17/01

·        Game Warden Mike Pauling, Texas Parks and Wildlife, killed responding to disturbance call on 08/02/01

·        Officer Christopher K. James, Dallas PD, killed responding to disturbance call on 11/25/01

·        Officer Clinton Warren Hunter, Austin PD, killed in traffic pursuit on 11/29/01        

 

Other Texas peace officers who died on duty in 2001:

·        Deputy Vance Clements, Gregg County SO, killed in traffic crash on 02/01/01                               

·        Sergeant Donald F. Flusche, Jr., Dallas PD, injured in traffic crash on 08/19/92, died 03/17/01

·        Deputy Loutricia Sowell Bonfanti, Leon County SO, killed in traffic crash on 04/07/01

·        Senior Trooper Richard Dale Cottle, DPS-Waco, killed in traffic crash on 05/09/01

·        Corporal Joseph Cushman, Arlington PD, killed in training exercise on 06/07/01

·        Officer Rodney Kendricks, Lubbock PD, injured in traffic crash on 07/02/01, died 07/08/01

·        Sergeant Kevin Cox, Lubbock PD, killed in accidental shooting on 07/13/01

·        Patrolman Juan Morales, San Antonio PD, killed in traffic crash on 12/11/01

·        Officer Michael Johns, Coppell PD, killed in traffic crash on 12/28/01

For a recorded sound bite on this topic, call 512-424-2606
Read about DPS online at www.txdps.state.tx.us