It’s an end of an era at the Lubbock Police Department as Chief Greg Stevens will soon leave. He will be taking a job as a police chief in Rockport after serving LPD for 27 years.
For now, he is reflecting on his time here in Lubbock.
He said one of the cases he remembers the most is when he and his partner stopped a sexual assault in progress.
“We drove by and saw a car by the gas pumps and we both thought it was odd but thought the person was maybe inside paying or something we got a little ways past that and the radio put out a call of a woman screaming behind the 711,” Stevens said. “We got there in time to prevent her from being raped but we weren’t able to prevent her from a horrible assault.”
Stevens recalls the moment when the woman’s father came out to the scene.
“I understand what he was going through now because I have daughters,” Stevens said. “That one in the knick of time we were able to stop that from happening.”
Years later, he said this memory sticks with him. Because of that instance, he said he teaches all of his officers to crack their window when they are patrolling to be aware and hear everything.
“I still keep my window down [even] in cold weather so I can hear things,” Stevens said.
On Tuesday, Stevens sifted through old memorabilia such as photos, badges, and patches.
As he remembers all the years he’s been with LPD, he said he hopes the organization is set up for success.
“I think change is important,” Stevens said. “I think you want to do as much good as you can, set your organization up for success and then move out of the way to let the people you trained do just as good or better.”
He said he hopes public trust and transparency continue even after he’s gone.
“You get a point to where you see your peer group retiring, you get to where you don’t really know anybody anymore,” Stevens said. “I realize that man, I’m a dinosaur.”
Chief Stevens’ last day in office is May 31st.
