WPA awards college scholarships 

WPA President Anne Cyr and Board member Mike Alston present scholarships to Stephen Sowders, Jr., and Sabina Hoida. Every spring, the Association awards college scholarships to two local students.

 WPA-backed Toni Herbert WINS District 4 seat on City Council!

Herbert unseats Allen on Waco City Council; incumbents win other races, Waco Tribune-Herald, May 10, 2009 

WPA PAC mailed the postcard above on behalf of Toni Herbert. Click images to enlarge.

CLEAT demands apology from Waco's Rep. Dunnam

State Rep. Jim Dunnam, D-Waco, was officially uninvited to attend the Texas Peace Officers Memorial Service May 4 at the State Capitol after he killed a bill two days earlier that would have raised the penalty for evading arrest on foot.

HB 2873, a bill brought by the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas with which the Waco Police Association is affiliated, was inspired by the case of Amy Lynn Donovan, an Austin police officer killed in 2004 while chasing a suspect on foot. Officer Donovan was survived by her husband, Terry, and four children.

Terry Donovan was in the House Gallery Saturday morning. The bill's co-authors and members of the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee stood and recognized Mr. Donovan and moved to name the bill "The Amy Lynn Donovan Act" just seconds before Rep. Dunnam went to the back mic and moved that the bill be struck down on a technicality. Mr. Donovan was visibly shaken by the chain of events.

HB 2873 would have raised the penalty for the first offense from a Class B misdemeanor to a Class A misdemeanor, and to a state jail felony for a person who had previously been convicted of evading arrest. It is already a state jail felony for a perosn to evade arrest in a motor vehicle.  

CLEAT has called on Rep. Dunnam to apologize to Mr. Donovan and the law enforcement officers of Texas.

"What he did encourages criminal suspects to continue to run from law enforcement officers and puts those officers in danger," said Charley Wilkison, CLEAT's public affairs director and chief lobbyist. "It is also a slap in the face to Mr. Donovan and other survivors of officers killed in the line of duty while pursuing suspects."

Just this year, two Texas peace officers have been killed in pursuits. Bridgeport Police Sergeant Randy White was killed on April 2, and Corpus Christi Police Lieutenant Stuart Alexander was killed on March 11. Those officers were recognized during the Texas Police Officer Memorial Service May 4th. Wilkison said Dunnam's presence there would have brought disrespect on the survivors.