Leander Officers To Observe National Police Week

LEANDER, TX — The Leander Police Department in the coming days will observe National Police Week in recognition of community members supporting law enforcement, officials said.

The commemoration at police headquarters, 705 Leander Dr., will begin with a morning flag ceremony on Tuesday, May 15, which is National Peace Officer Memorial Day. The flag ceremony will begin at 8 a.m. with a lowering of the U.S. and Texas flags to half-staff and music by Jeff Davis of the Stephan F. Austin Pipe Band, in remembrance of police officers killed in the line of duty.

The U.S. flag will then be retired and presented to Marilie Walker and her son, Carson, in honor of their significant contributions to law enforcement. The Walker family has donated $8,000 in ballistic protection kits to Leander Police Department, as well as 200 vests and 50 helmets to other law enforcement agencies throughout Texas.

The matriarch of the family said she decided to donate these items after learning of incidents where officers were injured and killed in the line of duty across Texas and the United States. Marilie is also a member of the 100 Club of Central Texas, which is devoted to providing immediate financial and emotional assistance to the families of first responders, officials said.

Leander Police Chief Greg Minton also will launch a new tradition of bestowing 'Police Officer for a Day' honors on a member of the community who has shown exemplary support for law enforcement at the department’s National Peace Officer Memorial Day luncheon on Tuesday, according to police officials.

The first recipient of the department's recognition will be 93-year-old Leander resident Monnie Wilson, a supporter of law enforcement for more than 60 years. Wilson volunteered locally since moving to Leander in 1996, joining the West Williamson County Seniors and Law Enforcement Together (SALT) chapter in 1997, graduating from the city's citizens police academy in 2004, and actively participating in the group's alumni association. Wilson also has attended numerous community outreach events such as National Night Out, Trunk-or-Treat, Blue Santa, and many other public safety programs and projects.

Wilson said she had dreams of becoming a police officer since the 1950s, officials said. She began her pursuit of that dream by volunteering for the Sidney Police Department and Civil Defense Department in Ohio, but like most law enforcement agencies at the time, Sidney Police Department did not allow female officers and assigned women instead to clerical or other support roles, she told police department officials.

Wilson's ultimately deferred dream was rooted in family legacy. Her grandfather, Squire Hagy, was a deputy sheriff in Buchanan County, Va., who was ambushed and killed in the line of duty on Aug. 27, 1927, she related.

“Monnie has shown such tremendous support for the Leander Police Department and other local law enforcement agencies, and she has been a fixture with our department for many years," Minton said in a prepared statement. "I could think of no one better to recognize with our first Police Officer for a Day honor than Monnie Wilson.”

For more information on the upcoming events, contact Assistant Chief Jeff Hayes of the Leander Police Department at (512) 528-2802 or jhayes@leandertx.gov (link sends e-mail).

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