Odessa Police Chief Michael Gerke was one of several law enforcement officers who testified Tuesday before the Homeland Security Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement and Intelligence subcommittee chaired by Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas.
The purpose of the meeting was to talk about the state of law enforcement and its relationship with Homeland Security.
Gerke, whose appearance in Washington, D.C., coincided with National Police Week, appeared on the panel with Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes, Boston Police Department Commissioner Michael Cox and Rafael Mangual, a senior fellow and head of research for policing and public safety at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research.
Pfluger noted 246 law enforcement officers died in the line of duty in the United States last year and so far this year, 41 have died.
According to the Officer Down Memorial Page, 60 officers were killed by gunfire, 36 died in crashes and 14 died as a result of a “vehicular assault.” Another 82 died of COVID-19.
Texas lost 35 officers last year.
“I think we’ve forgotten what it means to support our men and women in law enforcement who service our communities every day,” Pfluger said in his introductory remarks.
He also said the U.S. has forgotten the importance of holding people accountable for their actions and bemoaned the influx of fentanyl and other drugs into the U.S., zero bail policies, reduced sentences, budget cuts and media bias.
While the Department of Homeland Security and state and local law enforcement agencies have made significant progress in sharing information since the Sept. 11 attacks, Pfluger said more can be done to improve communications.
“I worry that there continue to be gaps in how we share information in a consistent and timely manner. We have to work together to overcome these barriers as information sharing is critical to combat the wide variety of threats that we face today,” Pfluger said.
Rep. Seth Magaziner, D-Rhode Island, also said strong collaboration at all levels of law enforcement can help prevent crime, but he said gun safety laws need to be strengthened.
“We must continue to fight for common sense gun safety laws so that neighborhoods are safe from gun violence and police officers are never outgunned. In the last several years, 504 police officers were killed on duty in the United States and of those, 456 officers were fatally shot with a gun, meaning that 90% of line of duty deaths were perpetrated with a gun,” Magaziner said. “This gun violence epidemic has only become worse in recent years. From 2020 to 2021, the number of police officers fatally shot rose 35% and it should be no surprise that these increasing occurrences of preventable officer deaths are three times more likely to occur in states with weak gun laws.”
He noted Rhode Island has lower levels of gun violence than many other states and attributed that to background checks, red flag laws and ghost gun and high capacity magazine bans.
Gerke told the committee he believes Odessa has seen a reduction in violent crimes thanks to a partnership with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and prioritized the prosecution of convicted felons, drug dealers and gang members who are caught with firearms.
“This led not only to a reduction in violent crime in the area, but also reduction in property crime such as auto thefts and burglaries,” Gerke said. “This is a shining example of what partnerships between local and federal authorities can accomplish.”
The biggest problem facing Odessa now is fentanyl, Gerke said. People as young as 12 have overdosed on the drug, which is coming up from China through Mexico.
Pfluger pointed out fentanyl-related deaths in Texas have increased 500% since 2019 and he asked Gerke what the greatest challenge is when it comes to the trafficking of fentanyl.
“Really, that’s easy. It’s keeping it from my community. Once they (the drugs) get in the community it is very difficult to root them out,” Gerke said. “It’s heartbreaking to see that a lot of these fentanyl overdoses and deaths are concentrated on young people.”
Asked by Pfluger about “open borders,” Gerke noted there’s just a “sea of narcotics” coming into the U.S. and it includes more than fentanyl. Methamphetamine is the predominant drug in Odessa, he said.
Gerke also spoke about other challenges Odessa faces, including staffing shortages within OPD and a lack of mental health services.
OPD is budgeted for 181 sworn positions and has 38 open slots currently, Gerke said. The oil field industry pays better and attitudes toward law enforcement have changed over the years, he said.
“Everyone has open positions because they see the danger involved in policing, it’s broadcast constantly…Law enforcement officials have (also) done some very bad things in the recent past (and) those things are getting attributed to every police officer, every sheriff’s deputy in United States, which is absolutely false statement,” Gerke said. “I will absolutely say that no one wants to get rid of a bad police officer, a bad deputy more than a good police officer or a good deputy… So I think that those things absolutely impact us numbers wise and when you don’t have numbers, it affects your ability to do your job.”
On Thursday, the Odessa and Midland police departments will hold the 2022-2023 Texas Memorial Service to honor fallen officers for their ultimate sacrifice. The event begins at 10 a.m. at Sunset Memorial Gardens & Funeral Home, 6801 E. Highway 80.
Among those being honored are Ector County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Thad West, OPD Corporal Gordon Toal, OPD Officer Scott Smith, OPD Corporal Arlie Jones, OPD Corporal Scott Gardner, OPD Corporal Abel Marquez, Ector County Independent School District Officer Robert Joiner and ECSO K9 Kazce.
