A Day in the Life of a Tom Green County Sheriff's Deputy

“[As police officers and deputies], we don’t just throw on some work clothes and then go to work. We’re talking about putting on work boots, and pants. Then you put on a bullet proof vest and strap on a duty belt with a gun and a taser [on it]. Then you are walking your shotgun and AR to your vehicle. That is how a deputy or any police officer starts their day," explained Deputy Ty Kimrey with the Tom Green County Sheriff’s Office. 

On Thursday, July 21, San Angelo LIVE! had the opportunity to accompany Deputy Kimrey during his daily patrol, to see what a day is like for a TGCSO patrol deputy.

I arrived at the Sheriff’s Offices at 8:00 a.m. that morning. As I walked in, I was introduced to Deputy Kimrey, and he began to show me around the department.

He first showed me the patrol room. This is where deputies go to write up reports for the calls of service that day. Next, he took me to Dispatch.

“We could not do our jobs without them here,” noted Kimrey.

After giving me a tour of the department, Kimrey and I made our way out to his patrol car, a Chevy Tahoe. Upon entering the vehicle, Kimrey had some difficulties with his computer and spent 15 minutes troubleshooting it before we headed over to the IT Department.

As we waited, Kimrey explained the breakdown of how the shifts work at TGCSO.

“We have five people usually on patrol per shift," Kimrey explained. "We have four 12-hour shifts. The break down [of the] shift [consists of] one shift Sergeant, and then you’ve got four other deputies who work assigned divisions or areas in the county. Usually, it is North County or South County.”

After another 15 minutes of waiting, we were told the vehicle would have to be taken to the shop for repairs, so we went out on patrol in a back up vehicle (Ford Taurus) for the day.

Once we got situated in the new car, Kimrey described our plan of attack for that day. 

“I am the 'in charge' deputy today," he said. "Our sergeant is not here, so they put a deputy in charge.”

Overall, this meant we would be assisting other deputies if necessary, as well as patrolling the north and south parts of the county.

The south part of the county consists of everything from FM 388 on down. This includes Wall and Christoval. The north part of the county is everything from FM 388 and up. This includes Carlsbad, Water Valley and Grape Creek.

“As far as crime goes, Grape Creek is your most dense crime area. That’s where a lot of your property crimes happen and our calls for service happen,” Kimrey stated.

He added, “The good thing about working for the Sheriff’s Office as deputies is that we have jurisdiction [of] the whole county, including the city. We can make stops in the city, but we let the San Angelo Police Department (SAPD) have [it]. We won’t take calls for service within the city. We let SAPD handle that because they have the man power.”

Now, it is 9:15 a.m., and we are on patrol. After spending an hour on the highway and back roads, we had our first speeder. At 10:07 a.m., Kimrey clocked a driver going over the speed limit, so he whipped his vehicle around and pursued the driver. The driver pulled over to the side of the road after seeing the patrol unit's lights flashing.

As we pulled over, Kimrey contacted Dispatch. He announced, “511 to SO.” Dispatch responded, “SO to 511 go ahead.” Kimrey then gave Dispatch his location and the license plate number of the vehicle.

After he went through his procedure of asking for license and registration, Kimrey came back to the car and verified the driver's credentials. While looking at the computer, Kimrey’s eyes continuously flashed back and forth from the vehicle and the computer.

He stated, “You want to always look back and forth. Keep eyes on your subject that you have pulled over. [The subject] could be out of that vehicle in seconds and be at your vehicle, or have a gun in your face, before you are even able to react.”

Luckily, everything checked out, and Kimrey made the decision to give the driver a written warning.

Besides patrolling, deputies have other duties they fulfill throughout the day.

“On a daily occurrence, deputies do what we call ‘walk throughs’, when school is in session especially. We walk through the schools during school hours, so we are seen by the students and administration. We get the layout of the school in case we do have to respond there in an emergency situation,” explained Kimrey.

He added, “I don’t want [kids] to think that when police come around, only bad stuff happens. So, I usually carry little junior deputy badge stickers to give to the kiddos. You want the kids to grow up and have a rapport with you and engage with you. You want [these kids] to have an interest in your career. You want to pass it down because it is a very rewarding career. It can be stressful, but it is very rewarding.”

Undoubtedly Kimrey finds this job rewarding, but he raised some concerns he has for the future.

“Ten to 15 years from now, with everything that is going on, if it doesn’t change, who is going to be the cops? Who is going to want to be a police officer? Who is going to want to do this job if [these kids] grow up thinking negatively about it?” he asked.

By working with the youth of the community on a day to day basis, Kimrey said it's important to show not all cops are bad.

“One of my favorite things [about] the job is getting a hand shake, knowing that you’ve helped someone,” he said.

In addition to working for the Sheriff’s Department, Kimrey has another job. 

“Off duty, I work one day a week at Central Freshman Campus when school is in session. All the kiddos always ask me, 'Do you eat doughnuts?' I’m like, 'Uh yeah. Do you eat doughnuts? Those things are delicious!'" Jokingly, Kimrey said, “I swear the hunger grew for [doughnuts] when I put on the badge.”

In regards to the type of person he is on the job, Kimery noted, “I’m not sensitive. I can laugh at myself, and I have a good time. I think that’s what a lot of people don’t realize; cops are humans. We like to laugh and have fun too. You need stress relievers. [As a cop], you need to be able to laugh.”

Also, what most people may not know is that there are mandatory classes deputies have to stay certified in and take.

"Our license requires us to take 40 hours [of classes] every two year cycles. [But] after two years, you are well over 40 hours,” Kimrey explained. “You’re looking at hundreds of hours because of so many classes you go to.”

As lunch time rolled around, we met up with another deputy. As we sat down to eat, Kimrey and the other deputy explained, “When becoming a deputy or an officer, you begin to realize that lunch is a blessing each day.”

After a quick bite to eat, Dispatch contacted Kimrey saying that CPS had requested assistance for the removal of children from a home. Immediately, we drove thirty minutes into Christoval where we met up with another deputy and CPS workers.

Due to only five patrol deputies being on duty at one time, it takes a while for back up to arrive at any given location.

After an hour had passed, CPS no longer needed TGCSO's assistance, so we left Christoval and made our way into Wall.

We patrolled Highway Loop 306 for traffic violations and speeders. At around 3:30 p.m., Kimrey clocked another vehicle speeding south on Loop 306 as we were heading north. Kimrey cut through the median and turned on his lights to catch up to the speeder.

After his regular routine of taking identification and insurance, Kimrey also decided to let this driver off with a written warning.

As our day came to a close, Kimrey shared with me his personal views about his work.  

He said, “At the Sheriff’s Office, we’re pretty close with each other. We know each other’s families and it’s a good thing. You might rely on them to save your life one day.”

With our time together ending soon, I asked Kimrey what it's like being a deputy off duty. He responded, “A lot of jobs think your off time is your time to do what you want; you can’t do that with this job. You have to always have that in the back of your mind--that you represent an agency. You have to respect the law, even when you’re off duty. When on duty, you are expected to enforce the law. When you say your job is over, you’re simply just off duty; you’re [still] a police officer.”

By the end of Kimrey's 12-hour shift, the patrol deputies on duty responded to these calls for service:

• Burglary
• Assist CPS
• Minor Motor Vehicle Accident
• Civil Matter
• Grass Fire

These incidents are only a small amount of situations TGCSO deputies face on a daily basis.