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[News Anchor 1] The Governor of Texas has declared a state
of emergency for 70 counties.
[News Anchor 2] The town of West looks like a war zone tonight.
[News Anchor 3] A constable is dead after being shot behind
a courthouse in Baytown this morning.
[James Barge] Often in their darkest hour when they don't
feel like there's any hope at all there, we show up and we're able to help those folks.
The CIT program is a program that started with the Game Wardens.
Our goal is to reduce the effects of stress on our officer's lives.
[Steve Stapleton] You never see us until something bad happens.
When something bad happens we roll in.
We serve an unbelievable role for Texas Parks and Wildlife.
[Craig Hernandez] It's really the emotional side of things that
are hardest to get over.
We can understand things logically, but that doesn't mean that we forget the sounds or
the thoughts or the feeling that we had when that happened.
[Cynthia Guajardo-Echols] So the Critical Incident Team can respond
to all different types of situations.
Recently we responded to the murder of a Deputy Constable here in the Houston area.
[News Anchor 3] Officers gathered for a prayer circle earlier today.
[Cynthia] Natural disasters.
[Radio] The hurricane is expected to move into north
east Texas later tonight.
[Cynthia] Sometimes it's drownings.
Unfortunately as Game Wardens, we're a big part of recovering drowning victims.
(splash)
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[Grahame Jones] It really came out of the death of a Game
Warden, Wesley Wagstaff, in 2003.
[Officer] Ready.
Aim.
Fire.
(gun shots)
[Grahame] After that incident we thought that we could
do things better.
We thought we could respond better, and give our people more training so that we could
address those situations and deal with family and be more responsive.
[Steve] Since its inception it's kind of spilled over
into we help other divisions, we help other agencies, and we certainly help the public.
[News Anchor 4] The tornado plowed through an area 35 miles long.
[Cody Jones] We've had incidents as recent as the tornados
that happened up in north Texas.
(wind)
[Cody] And our personnel responding to that community.
These folks live in that community, they breath that community, they are a part of that community.
[Steve] We had several tornadoes come right through
the middle of Canton.
But we have extensive damage from one end of the county all the way to the other end
of the county.
(shovel)
[Kurt Kelley] There was two officers that were effected
down in Fruitvale.
Both their houses got leveled.
I've gone by and talked to them a couple of times.
Just reassure them that we're going to get through this, we'll get through this together.
Somebody just to be there to lean on, you know a shoulder to lean on and an ear to listen to.
[Cynthia] Seeing officers that have been through these
critical incidences and are struggling.
To look in their eyes and really see another soul, and see the hurt, and recognize that
because you've been there.
[Officer on radio] . . . surrounded by three armed men who pointed
their weapons at our Game Warden and disarmed him.
[James Barge] You can't afford to show emotions while you're there.
And as a result a lot of times officers never deal with those emotions.
It just stays inside of them and builds up like a pressure cooker 'till the lid blows off.
[Craig] They just need to know what they're going
through is normal and they're not in it alone.
[Cody] It takes a unique type of person that really
stands up and wants do the job.
That's what we look for is those people that really stand up and raise their hand and say
this is for me.
It's not for everybody.
[James] What you're doing as a CIT member is you're
volunteering to take other people's burdens on, and to help them carry those burdens.
They become a part of who you are also.
[Grahame] You don't always have the answers.
You don't always know what to say.
But being there for those Game Wardens, being there for those employees is what it's all about.
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