Round Rock Police Chief Allen Banks Named 'Citizen Of The Year'

ROUND ROCK, TEXAS — Round Rock Police Chief Allen J. Banks has been named the recipient of the 2018 Citizen of the Year award from the Round Rock Chamber, officials said Monday.

Banks has served as the city's police chief for more than four years. Under his helm, the police force he heads has emerged as a nationwide model for community policing, officials noted in a press advisory. As part of that distinction is the department's participation in hundreds of community and service events each year, chamber officials lauded.

Banks has been instrumental in launching even more community events that have since become annual traditions, including the Junior Police Academy and Back to School Celebration. New programs were adopted to mentor kids at the Texas Baptist Children’s Home (Blue Guardian), to prevent package theft during the Holidays (Operation Front Porch), and to hang up Christmas lights for Meals on Wheels recipients. Another event, the annual Bless the Badge initiative, has brought law enforcement and the faith community together since 2015. Moreover, 100-plus religious leaders attended our “Surviving an Active Killer” training for places of worship.

In addition to his participation in such events, Banks represents the police department and the City of Round Rock at numerous conferences and panel discussions each year, officials noted. This summer, he was named to Gov. Greg Abbott’s School Safety Roundtable Series in May and returned to the Capitol in June to participate in the Senate Select Committee on Violence in Schools and School Safety. In April 2018, Banks guided the police force in negotiating collective pain in losing Officer Charles Whites, the first officer with the Round Rock Police Department to be killed in the line of duty after being hit by a vehicle last February as he directed traffic around a crime scene.

Banks also distinguished himself last March, when he worked with with regional and federal law enforcement counterparts in help bring an end to a campaign of terror launched by a man who sent parcel bombs to various people, killing two.

In 2016, Banks was awarded the Civil Rights Justice by Action Award by the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE). He is a 2015 graduate of Leadership Round Rock. Banks joined the Department in 2014 after retiring as interim chief of police for the Albuquerque (N.M.) Police Department.

The award will be presented formally at the chamber’s annual awards banquet on Jan. 29. Click HERE for other award recipients scheduled to be honored.

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>>> Photo of Round Rock Police Chief Allen J. Banks provided by City of Round Rock