Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40AMERICAN POLICE BEAT: JUNE 2016 33 B eing a cop is a tough job physically. You can’t do it on one leg. Just don’t tell that to Tra- vis Owens. He’s got no time for people that tell him he can’t be a cop again. So what happened? Why did this guy fight to get back on the job? Ask Travis and he’ll tell you. “July 27th, 2015.” That was when a surgeon ampu- tated Owens’ leg. Travis had 10 years under his belt with the India- napolis Metropolitan Police Dept. when he shattered his ankle in 2001 after falling 14 feet. Owens hoped he could just work through the pain – hopefully without getting strung out on pain pills. But at some point you hit the limit. With the pain making him unable to do much of anything, Owens went to see his doctor. The doctor wanted to do another surgery, but Travis told him to cut his leg off. He knew his law enforce- ment career, as he knew it, was over. Then he learned about the Indianapolis P.D.’s Of- fice of Professional Devel- opment and Police Well- ness. It’s a program that even United States Attorney General Loretta Lynch is passionate about. “One of my top priori- ties as Attorney General is strengthening relationships between law enforcement officers and the communi- ties we serve and protect,” Lynch said. After the surgery, Owens went through various tests, training and physicals. Owens passed them all and returned back to the Indianapolis P.D. in De- cember of last year. “I want to be the person everyone looks up to,” Ow- ens said. He added that his entire motivation to do the sur- gery are his two girls and wife. His two daughters needed a dad, he added. “And I am determined to be that dad.” A little thing like losing a leg isn’t going to stop Travis Owens from working the job he loves. He’s an inspiration Medical errors now third Medical errors now third leading cause of death in leading cause of death in United States United States U .S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) distributed $485,380 to the Pharr, Texas Police Depart- ment as part of a federal asset-sharing program from monies which had been forfeited from an ongoing money laundering case. HSI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Vance Cal- lender presented the poster- sized check to Pharr Police Chief Ruben Villescas, City Manager Juan Guerra, and Mayor Amborsio Hernan- dez. “HSI is proud to recognize the key role that our local law enforcement partners played in the criminal inves- tigations that led to seizing thousands of dollars in il- licit proceeds,” said Special Agent in Charge Shane Folden, who works out of HSI San Antonio. “With equitable asset shar- ing, federal and local law enforcement agencies are better equipped to turn the tables on the bad guys. We invest their illegal profits in local law enforcement ef- forts, which support our local communities,” he added. “The partnership we have with HSI is a model of how federal and local law en- forcement agencies can and should cooperate in solving federal cases,” said Chief Ruben Villescas. “During these difficult economic times, these proceeds will al- low the Pharr Police Depart- ment to complete several projects and obtain needed equipment without placing the financial burden on our taxpayers.” The police department plans to use the nearly half- million dollars to purchase body cameras and addition- al surveillance equipment. DHS is doing a lot of the work formerly handled by police. DHS’s HSI spreads the wealth around with local law enforcement