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79R4441 MAM-D
By: Hill H.R. No. 254
R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, The Richardson Police Department is celebrating its
50th anniversary on May 14, 2005, and this event provides a fitting
opportunity to honor the officers and volunteers who claim
allegiance to this fine department; and
WHEREAS, In 1955, three police officers, Chief of Police Jack
Stults and Officers A. D. Tucker and J. W. Golden, with one vehicle
and a radio signal from the Dallas sheriff's office, were hired to
provide police services for the 5,000 citizens in Richardson; and
WHEREAS, Two years later, Officer Golden assumed the title of
chief of police, and the city added three officers and one
additional vehicle; this expansion enabled the provision of
around-the-clock service, and over the next 20 years the department
grew steadily so that in 1975 it included 80 personnel and 25
vehicles, accommodating a population that had increased to more
than 50,000; and
WHEREAS, Ken Yarbrough was named chief of police in 1975, and
he served in that position for 27 years; under his leadership, the
department continued to grow, and today it includes 145 police
officers, 94 civilian employees, and 40 appointed citizen
volunteers, serving a population of over 94,000 residents; and
WHEREAS, The current chief of police, Larry Zacharias,
continues to strengthen the department's commitment to integrity
and outstanding community service with such initiatives as the
Citizen Volunteer Program, which gives residents the opportunity to
work side by side with police officers, and with the continuation of
one of the oldest formal school resource officer programs in Texas;
and
WHEREAS, The Richardson Police Department has distinguished
itself as an agency of notable professionalism; it was named the
Outstanding Crime Prevention Unit in Texas for its population
category in 2004, and its commitment to the safety of area citizens
certainly merits special praise; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 79th Texas
Legislature hereby commemorate the 50th anniversary of the
Richardson Police Department and extend sincere best wishes to the
department's officers and citizen volunteers; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be
prepared for the Richardson Police Department as an expression of
high regard by the Texas House of Representatives.