Mission Police Department hosts road safety training to reduce amount of officer-involved crashes
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In an effort to reduce the amount of officer-involved car crashes, law enforcement officers in the Rio Grande Valley are learning new ways to safeguard our roads.
Officers from six different law enforcement departments participated in the first day of a training held Thursday in Mission.
The training was made after the Mission Police Department reported 26 on-duty officer-involved accidents in 2022 involving their own officers. In 10 of those accidents, the officer was found to be at fault.
The training was held by retired Texas Department of Public Safety trooper Gary Parker to lower those numbers not just in Mission, but across the Valley.
Parker said he's teaching officers to slow down during emergencies, and how to be mindful about where they pull people over.
“This is not defensive driving, this is using your head to be able to accomplish a job that you signed up for, and to be able to do that you have to pay attention,” Parker said
Parker said it's not just on the officers to make the road safer, as many of the accidents are because other drivers are just not paying attention.
“When you see a police officer, and you see the lights on, they are not going to lunch,” Parker said. “They are trying to get somewhere because somebody needs help."
The training concludes on Friday, June 23.
Watch the video above for the full story.
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