9 current, former DPS officers find ‘home’ in Albany
By Sam Waller
Among its other qualities, Shackelford County has become something of a magnet for law enforcement.
In addition to local agencies, Albany has attracted a number of state troopers who either live or work in the county.
There are currently nine active or former Department of Public Safety officers living or working in the county.
Former troopers are Shackelford County Judge Robert Skelton, Constable Xavier Perez, and Brian Waggoner of the Fort Griffin Special Utility District.
Albany resident Chad Overton made the move from Highway Patrol to the Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Service (weights and measures) in June.
New Officers
Troopers Casey Smith and Michael Jones are currently assigned to Highway Patrol in Shackelford County, while Albany resident Cody Pope patrols Callahan County.
Matt Howe joined Pope in Callahan County on Sept. 1. Howe’s wife, Elizabeth, is in her first year teaching in Albany.
Also, Texas Ranger Bo Brown, who works out of Eastland, is an Albany resident. To qualify to join the Rangers, officers must be employed with the Texas Department of Public Safety in the position of a commissioned officer with the rank of at least Trooper II, according to the DPS website.
Troopers living outside their assigned county is not an unusual practice, but DPS policy requires them to live within 30 miles of their duty station.
Local Assignments
Smith and Jones, who have been on their current assignments a little more than a year, have both been living outside Shackelford County, but Smith and his family recently moved here.
Smith replaced Perez, and Jones replaced Waggoner as the troopers patrolling Shackelford County.
Smith, who joined the DPS in 2008, came to Albany last November.
Jones, an eight-year DPS veteran, replaced Waggoner in August 2020.
“I feel great about doing my job right here in my community,” Smith said. “DPS is a professional agency that strives to take care of the public with courtesy and professionalism.”
Smith has worked in law enforcement nearly 20 years.
“I’ve worked in small agencies and small communities, and I’ve worked in larger towns,” he said. “In Eldorado, a town of 3,000 people, I was the only trooper in the area, and I was also a trooper in the Houston area in Kingwood and New Caney in Montgomery County.”
Smith said he has found great support from the Albany community since coming here.
“I’m from Abilene, and I’ve known folks that live in Albany for a long time,” he said. “It’s filled with a lot of folks who are very supportive of law enforecement, a community of really good West Texas people.”
Albany Resident
Howe, who was born and raised in Ballinger, said he was looking to move closer to family when he accepted his new assignment.
“My family lives in Abilene,” he said. “That’s where they were all born and raised, so Abilene was where I spent much of my time during my childhood with grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins.”
In his previous assignment, Howe, a 14-year DPS veteran, was based in Dalhart patrolling four counties – Dallam, Hartley, Moore, and Sherman – in the northwest corner of the Panhandle. He said patrolling just one county makes his job a bit easier in some respects.
“Callahan will definitely be less ground to cover as far as responding to calls,” he said. “Two of the four counties that I was responsible for in the Panhandle are among the five largest counties in the entire state of Texas as far as square mileage is concerned.”
Retired Officers
Perez, who took over as Shackelford County constable in January, served as a DPS officer here for more than 25 years.
“I had about three years with the Department when I moved to Albany in 1994,” said Perez, who noted that there is a built-in support group and ready sources of local knowledge that the active troopers can draw on.
“All the law enforcement around here know that,” Perez said. “We’re all available for each other; we help out the best we can.”
Skelton said the relationship works both ways, with the troopers also contributing to the community.
“It’s an asset to the community to have some retired troopers in the community,” he said. “I hope people feel that way.”
The local concentration of DPS veterans is a fairly recent phenomenon, Waggoner said.
“When I got here in early 2002, it was just the three of us for a long time – my partner, Trooper Perez, who’d already been here a few years, and now-retired Trooper Robert Skelton, who’s our county judge, who was in weights and measures.”
Howe said he did not realize Albany had such a concentration of DPS personnel when he first decided to move here but said everything he has learned since indicates a positive environment.
“The troopers who work here are amazing people,” he said. “They have very good work ethic, and the chain of command is phenomenal.”
Perez said such relationships were a factor in his decision to pursue the constable position.
“I was finished with my state career, but I didn’t feel like I was done with my law enforcement duties,” he said. “I felt I still had a little more to offer. I want to continue to help out where I can.”
Waggoner said he still maintains contact with several of the county’s law enforcement officers.
“I really enjoyed my time here with DPS,” he said. “I’m still in contact with the majority of the guys, not just DPS but some of the deputies too, and I talk with the sheriff (Ed Miller) occasionally.”
Overton said Skelton has been particularly helpful following the move from Highway Patrol to Commercial Vehicle Enforcement.
“Of course, Bob was there before me in this spot,” Overton said. “If I have a question, I can call him.”
Job duties make face-to-face meetings rather sporadic, Skelton said.
“Our schedules conflict, and I don’t get an opportunity to interact with the guys as much as I’d like,” the judge said. “My duties keep me here at the courthouse, and I haven’t had a chance to visit with the active officers.”
New Careers
For the retired troopers, their time with the DPS provided experience that they could carry over into their new careers.
Waggoner said “people skills” are particularly valuable.
“I don’t deal with the public nearly as much,” he said. “My water district co-workers and I are out in the field a lot and not even around people.”
But there are occasions, he said, when displeased customers must be appeased.
“Every now and then, you run across a customer who’s not happy with the situation,” Waggoner said. “I’ve been with the water district about 16 months now and haven’t found an irate customer yet anywhere near what we used to deal with on the road.”
Perez, who has held positions at the local, county, and state levels, said his transition to constable has been fairly easy.
“I retired last August, and this has been a nice transition,” he said. “It’s more relaxed, not quite as hectic as working the highways and having to travel to the border and capitol, but still with the responsibilities of law enforcement.”
And it is the assignments to the Capitol and border that keep Overton on the move. Recent border assignments have been to Del Rio and other parts of the “Valley.”
Overton and other active DPS troopers spent much of the summer handling extra duty.
“During the (legislative) session, a lot of us worked at the Capitol,” he said. “After the session was over, we started going back to the border every few months.”
Putting Down Roots
Skelton, who spent 41 years with the DPS, said Albany was simply too good a place to leave.
“I think Shackelford County has been a good place to raise kids,” said Skelton, who spent 25 years with the Highway Patrol starting in 1977 followed by 16 years with Commercial Vehicle Enforcement. “The citizens have been supportive of law enforcement, especially the Department of Public Safety. It just makes for a great place for kids to grow up, and the value that I saw that made it hard to promote within the Department and move away.”
Waggoner, who was assigned to Shackelford County straight out of the DPS Academy in 2002, offered a similar reason.
“My wife (Dee Dee) and I showed up here without kids and a few years later had both our sons,” he said. “Here we are nearly 20 years later, and they’re both in high school.”
Waggoner said Albany provides a quality of life that separates it from other communities in the region.
“There’s a lot of civic pride here,” he said. “When we’re in other areas, we get a lot of comments from people who travel through here about how neat it is.”
Overton, who patrolled Throckmorton County for eight years after nine in Motley County, cited family connection for tying him to the community.
“My wife (Bethany) was born and raised in Albany, and my parents live here too,” he said. “So for me it was coming home.”
All of those factors influenced Howe’s decision to live in Albany.
“It’s a great family life,” he said. “Albany has a wonderful reputation for community involvement and service and a hometown feel, a place where I can see my kids growing up and graduating.”
Another attraction, Howe said, was Albany’s active church scene.
“That’s very important to us,” he said. “People have been great. My wife and children moved here before me in June, and it’s been a wonderful experience.”
The Howes have three children who are attending Albany schools.
“My wife and I are both from small town Texas, and I love that atmosphere where your neighbor is not just your neighbor but your best friend,” said Howe.
