The events of August 26 and 27, 2017, forever changed the landscape of Galveston County. Hurricane Harvey inundated our communities with millions of gallons of rainfall. Many families lost a great deal of their personal belongings and many more lost all material belongings. Sadly, some members of the Galveston Community lost their lives; family members lost their loved ones.
During those terrifying hours of late night Saturday and throughout the early and late morning hours of Sunday, law enforcement officers of Galveston County ran towards the danger, as they always do, to protect the citizens of our communities.
Like many other first responders on duty that night, La Marque Police Department’s C Shift started their tour of duty without any idea what the next twelve hours had in store for them. Throughout the night, C Shift responded to numerous calls of rising water and citizens in need of rescue. Being equipped with only basic tools and equipment, the officers selflessly entered the flood waters to rescue citizens and take them to safety. When the rain slowed and the sun started to rise, the exhausted officers dried themselves off, got a clean dry set of uniforms and went back to work protecting the community.
Every single first responder in the County worked tirelessly providing for public safety. However, the La Marque Police Department’s C Shift, Sergeant Joshua Human, Officer Jose Santos, Officer Aaron Skaggs, Officer Kenneth Hernandez and Officer Hailey Monckton, is recognized as the La Marque Police Department’s Officer of the Year for 2017.