Police recall a year of learning

Police Lt. Art Fuentes said it brought home how much they take for granted.

"We leave for work and just go to work," he said.

But that changed with the September 2007 shooting deaths of corporals Arlie "Lee" Jones, Scott Gardner and Abel Marquez - Odessa officers responding to a domestic disturbance call at a home in western Odessa.

The biggest lesson Fuentes said he learned was simply "that this type of thing could happen."

For officers that meant everything from resolving family matters to making sure wills and other issues were in order to getting in better physical shape, Fuentes said. For some, it meant looking into their faith.

"Have a little check within themselves," he said.

It's also meant new ways of going into potentially violent calls, Deputy Chief Lou Orras said.

The department has always worked on training scenarios to prepare officers. Now after an incident, the officers involved are critiqued to see how they can better handle a similar situation and improve reaction time, Orras said.

"It drives home to officers the dangers of the job," he said.

Many officers have gone through counseling the department offers. For those involved in the Sept. 8 call, it was mandated. But Orras said even some who weren't directly involved took up the offer.

Police officers have come a long way from the days in which counseling was seen as a weakness, he said.

"Sometimes it's good to sit down and talk to somebody," Orras said. "Our officers are not computers. Our officers are human beings. There are good days, and there are bad days."

After the shootings, more change occurred at the department. But Orras said the police department was able to navigate the Feb. 15 retirement of Chief Chris Pipes.

Timothy Burton took the chief's helm last week.

"We're not so much looking into the past - we're looking into the future," Orras said.

The police department again came into the spotlight over the issue of pay raises. In order to avert a May election that could've brought 18 percent pay increases, the Odessa City Council voted in March to give officers a 13.64 percent starting pay raise.

The raises brought police salaries in Odessa equal to those of Midland. Orras said that helps in recruiting and keeping officers.

"That's where most of our competition comes from," he said.

But beyond being better prepared and better compensated, Orras said the events of a year ago helped remind officers of how they're appreciated in the community.

"Sometimes in this job you can get very cynical, because you constantly meet the undesirable elements," he said. "The support of the public really brings home what this job is all about."

Fuentes said the department was also helped by a visit from former Port Authority Police Lt. William Keegan, a Sept. 11 first responder who lost 37 colleagues in the terror attacks.

"He was able to share and relate to us all the anger, all the frustration, all the hurt," Fuentes said. "It's not just us - it's the way human beings react. Even though it was several years ago, the pain is still there."