Lubbock Police sent five officers to Dallas on Monday to honor the lives of the five Dallas law enforcement officers killed by a gunman last Thursday. Those five officers returned to Lubbock on Wednesday after being relieved by a second crew of LPD officers. 

The first crew of officers sat down with EverythingLubbock.com Thursday and recounted their experiences of standing side-by-side with Dallas officers at vigils and memorial services over the last few days. 

“There’s a sense of loss, there’s anger there’s frustration, there’s many things because not only when you lose an officer– or five officers in this case–it’s not just an attack on those individual police officers, it’s  one on police officers nationwide, it’s on our society, it’s against our values and what we stand for,” said Sgt. Corey Nunley of LPD’s Honor Guard. 

Nunley recalled seeing officers from across the country in Dallas this week, some from as far away as Alaska and Canada. 

LPD’s Honor Guard is often dispatched to memorial services for other Texas officers. But Nunley said the emotional weight and national importance of the services in Dallas this week was palpable.

“Anytime you go to an officer’s funeral, especially in a line-of-duty death, the hardest part about that and the reason we’ve actually split our team is so that we don’t over expose any one officer to multiple funerals and things like that,” Nunley said. “And that’s why we have another team there now and we came back yesterday.”

Nunley and his colleagues explained that when they got to Dallas, they were first asked to arrive early at the Dallas Police Association’s vigil held outside Dallas City Hall, they helped out leading up to and during the event. In the day that followed they continued to help out Dallas law enforcement, offering everything from hugs to food and water to those in need. 

The Lubbock Police officers were awed with the strength shown by the Dallas Police, both during and in the aftermath of the shootings. 

“You could see on TV these guys were actually shielding people with their bodies, and I was just taken aback and I was so proud to be able to call these guys brothers,” said Sgt. Mickey Chambliss with LPD’s Honor Guard. 

Officer Tino Blanco said that having his LPD colleagues around him made it easier to cope with the sadness he saw the Dallas officers and their families enduring.

“I would say the moment that stood out most to me was seeing the Dallas officers stand right back up and go back to work,” Blanco said. 

LPD’s Assistant Chief Jon Caspell went with the Honor Guard to Dallas, he was moved by Chief David Brown of the Dallas Police. 

“One of the things he said that really stood out is, cops are mission driven, you give a cop a mission and we are gonna accomplish it. So he said, ‘What is our mission today? Our mission is to help these families cope with this tragedy,’  and that is our mission going forward, and we were pleased and humbled to be Lubbock’s representatives in fulfilling that mission,” Caspell said. 

“And one of the things that we can do to help Dallas cope with this is all of us– in the community of Lubbock, in the police department, in the state, in the nation–don’t forget these five [officers],” Caspell added. 

Patrol Officer Travis Wells said that being part of the LPD team in Dallas this week has made him think deeply about safety, he imagines he will be more cautious and appreciative when he gets back to work on patrol. 

Wells hopes that the support and unity he saw surrounding law enforcement in Dallas continues around the country in the months to come. 

“During the procession, seeing the community standing out there in the hot roadway, holding flags, holding signs, praying, it was beyond words,” Wells said. “The community coming together was absolutely amazing, I hope that continues.”

Their visit to Dallas has given LPD officers a great deal to think about, they hope it’s part of an ongoing community conversation. 

“This isn’t a police issue, this is a society thing that as Americans we need to figure this out together and actually look at things for what they are, not rush to judgment on things, but be accountable for the actions we take,” said Sgt. Nunley.