04/20/2022
Today we'd like to take a moment to pause and reflect on an event that had a significant impact on the relationship between US citizens and law enforcement. During this event 29 years ago, the US federal government, Texas state law enforcement, and the US military came together in an unprecedented spirit of cooperation and comraderie that showed the nation what law enforcement is really capable of in this country. Today we recognize the Waco Incident.
During this operation, 76 people, including 25 children and two pregnant women, were freed from the influence of David Koresh and the Branch Davidian cult. During the siege and subsequent assault, joint forces were able to use thousands of rounds of ammunition, 3 UH- 60 Blackhawk helicopters, 2 UH-1 Iroquois helicopters, 9 M3 Bradley fighting vehicles, 7 M728 Combat Engineering Vehicles, 2 M1A1 Abrams Battle tanks, an M88 tank retriever, some really cool aircraft, and hundreds of canisters of CS gas. Additionally during the nearly two month siege costing nearly a million dollars a week, ATF, FBI, and State police were able to accrue thousands of hours of overtime and hazardous duty pay.
Of course, no operation of this caliber is without its problems, so we'd like to recognize the 4 ATF agents who lost their lives during the incident. These men were truly American heroes. Their legacy will live on in the hearts and minds of law enforcement officers everywhere.
As for those critics that say that loss of life and tax dollars spent were unnecessary and egregious we'd like to point out that the federal government conducted a full investigation into their actions and concluded that they were not at fault.
In recognition of this momentous occasion, Dibble Police officers will be allowed to turn off their body cameras for the entire day.