Page 51 - Lubbock Senior Link Magazine Summer 2022 - Online Magazine

FIRST RESPONDERS

their lives revisiting and re-evaluating
the decisions made on calls. A crucial
component of their training requires
them not only to uphold justice but
also to execute their roles in fairness. In
today’s society, it’s often easy to forget
that the individual behind the badge
has taken an oath to serve and protect
not just any community, but the very
community in which their own family
members work and live.
Reflecting over his time on the force, my
father shared about a time he responded
to a call involving the robbery of a
taxicab. Two suspects had taken the cab
and held the driver at gunpoint. One
suspect possessed a pistol, the other a
handgun. It was the closest he’d ever was a snapshot of a
come to firing his own gun, and as I profession that has a long
learned of this story for the first time, I history of those who came
silently thanked God that no weapons before me and will continue
were discharged that day. with those who come after

Protecting a community isn’t a vocation me. My hope is that I left
for the faint of heart. Many calls involve the department, and my
great danger and sorrow. Responding to community, better for the
events where lives are forever changed, time I spent serving.”
and even dealing with the loss of Although I may be biased,
colleagues, is something that most law I believe he did. And as he
enforcement officers face during their has passed the torch on to
tenure. another family member, his
As a young teenager, I still remember nephew, who now serves the
July 2001 when the Lubbock Police community as a K-9 Officer,
Department lost two officers, Sergeant I can confidently say that
Kevin Cox and Officer Rodney Lubbock remains in good
Kendricks. Watching my father grieve hands.
both men left a lasting impact on me,
and it was then that I began to realize the
gravity of the line of work to which he’d
committed his life.

After his last call, in February 2013, he hung up his
badge but continued in the spirit of service. Returning
to college, he received his certification as a surgical
technician. He also became the primary caretaker of
his forever proud mother, until God called her home
in 2018. Today, he serves as a deacon at his church,
a volunteer with Meals on Wheels, and in his most
favorite role, as a grandfather.

When asked what he enjoyed most about serving on
the front lines, he said, “My time in the department

Lubbock Senior Link 51