1999-03-15 Regular Meeting and Public Hearing of La Porte City Council

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e e CITY OF LA PORTE INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM MARCH 10, 1999 TO: Mayor and Council FROM: Robert T. Hegf~a~ager Bobby Powell Retirement SUBJECT: We would like to recognize Chief Bobby Lee Powell who will retire at the end of March. Immediately before coming to La Porte, Bobby worked briefly as an operator at Southern Petrochemicals in Channelview, and prior to that he had worked as a police officer in Baytown, Texas, McComb Mississippi, and Havelock, North Carolina. Bobby has over 33 years of law enforcement experience. He is also proud of the 8 1/2 years he served in the United States Marine Corps. Chief Powell began his career with the City of La Porte as a patrol officer on October 26, 1970. There were a total of 12 officers in the Department. He was promoted to Detective in 1975, and in January of 1976 was promoted to Patrol Sergeant. He also served as Detective Sergeant. In June of 1980, he was promoted to Patrol Lieutenant and later served as CID Lieutenant. In November 1990, he was promoted to Chief of Police, and today there are a total of 62 officers in the department. It is difficult to try and list all of his accomplishments for fear of missing some. Bobby will be the first to tell you he has "seen it all" during his 28+ years at the City. He has been involved in the technological changes in the department including installation of computer aided dispatch. He has seen the DARE program flourish and the Citizen's Police Academy born. He has been instrumental in acquiring grants to add police officers to the department, and acquiring and implementing the community service trailer and the DOT program. Chief Powell has been a loyal and dedicated employee throughout his time with the City of La Porte and he will be sorely missed.