Veteran officer joins Troup reserves; Hendrix celebrates first year as chief

Troup Police Chief Pat Hendrix welcomes veteran officer Frank Blake as the department's latest reserve.

The Troup Police Department had reason to celebrate recently: May 1 marked the one-year anniversary of Pat Hendrix as chief, and Sgt. Frank Blake arrived April 4 as the newest reserve officer, bringing more than 40 years of law enforcement experience with him.

"He's been a cop longer than I've been alive. We needed him," Hendrix said, adding with a smile, "I took him from the sheriff."

Blake's acquisition from the Sheriff's Department, where he was serving as a reserve when Hendrix recruited him, caps a long list of accomplishments for the Troup Police Department during a year of transition and rebuilding.

"Troup deserves good law enforcement," said Blake. "Since Pat Hendrix was given the position of chief, there's really a marked difference."

Blake has also made a difference, despite being on the job little more than a month. Given the task of inventorying property, he secured orders of destruction for 175 lbs. of old evidence, primarily narcotics or gun related, and filed 10-15 cases with the district attorney.

"This has been a tremendous help with something that's hard for us to do with because of our active cases," said Hendrix. Blake is also overseeing patrol duty and the reserve program, and Hendrix said he doesn't really see himself as Blake's boss, but rather a facilitator.

"I know Frank knows what he's doing. Anything he needs, my job is to get it for him so he can do his job."

Hendrix's faith in Blake comes from a long working relationship that began in 1989 when Hendrix was with the Sheriff's Department and Blake ran the Tyler Police Department's Narcotics Division.

"We've done a lot of undercover work together. We've done a lot of dangerous work together," Hendrix said, adding that the nature of the job lent itself to the two men becoming friends. "We built a camaraderie when we were kicking down doors. When you do that together, you build a brotherhood, so to speak, that carries over throughout the years."

The nature of the job also makes it difficult to quit, as evidenced by Blake's unpaid reserve service. Despite retiring three times (first in California and then twice in Texas), he keeps coming back to the job that "just gets in your blood."

"Law enforcement is not like any other job," agreed Hendrix, who has 21 years of experience. "You don't just turn off a switch. There's a love of the job. That's why we do it. I can't imagine stopping."

The addition of Blake gives the Troup Police Department 60-70 years of experience on reserve, as well three seasoned homicide investigators: Blake, Hendrix and Lt. Pamela Dunklin.

"In any small-town police department, it's phenomenal to have that much experience in any one area, but especially homicide," said Hendrix. "We have a good little team here, there's no doubt about it."

BY THE NUMBERS

In recognition of the one-year anniversary of the new Troup PD, Chief arrests with 110 of those filed with D.A. and 38 narcotics related; 1,222 citations plus 1,326 warning citations; 30 citations for the violation of city ordinances; and six siezed vehicles and $1,400 in cash from narcotics-related offenses.

Hendrix also listed the special topics of training his officers have undertaken, including use of force, report writing, evidence handling, crisis intervention, Spanish, SWAT, rapid response training and ALERT, a course of training dealing with school shootings.

The department also did lockdown drills for all school campuses, intruder prevention training and canine searches on all campuses.

In community service programs, Troup Police Department offers women's and eldery safety courses, volunteer safety patrol for Pee Wee Football, a drug-free program for seventh- and eighthgraders and an identify theft program.

On the horizon, Hendrix said he is looking into establishing a canine unit and acquiring a dog through the military at no cost to the taxpayers. Hendrix said the department would be seeking community support and donations for costs related to a canine unit such as vet bills and equipping a patrol unit. Discussion is under way with Brookshire's about providing dog food.

"A dog would allow us to be more accurate in narcotics detection, as well as search and rescues," he said. "The Whitehouse canine unit responded to a recent robbery, and though it helped a lot, having a unit here on the scene quicker would make a difference. This would just be another tool to use here at the Troup Police Deparment."