Sergeant, Wake Village Police Department
Jody Stubbs believes in the importance of treating others the way you wish to be treated and always being honest. Currently a Sergeant in the patrol division of the Wake Village Police Department, Jody states that he was inspired during his teen years to seek a career in law enforcement. “When I was in my late teens, the group of guys I hung out with were older than me. They were already in law enforcement. On weekends, I would do ride-alongs. It seemed like a great career, and I absolutely loved it,” he says.
After graduating from the Texas Police Academy in late 1992, Jody was a reserve officer for the Hooks Police Department. “I started the hiring process with the Texarkana Arkansas Police Department (TAPD) in late 1993 and was hired in March of 1994. I began as a patrol officer, and after a few years, I was given the opportunity to serve as a field training officer. After being in patrol for a few years, I went to the traffic division. In early 1999, I achieved my goal of becoming a police officer. I went to the K-9 division and had a German Shepherd named Ronnie. Those were by far the best times in my police career,” Jody says.
Jody left TAPD at the end of 2004 to pursue another career path, but it did not last long. “I knew that police work was what I was meant to do. I began working for the Bowie County Sheriff’s Office in 2007 as a deputy. I stayed there until September 2010, when I was contacted by the Wake Village Police Department and offered a job that I couldn’t refuse. I was hired as a detective with Wake Village, and in 2012, I was promoted to sergeant in the patrol division where I am currently,” Jody says.
Community support is essential to Jody and other officers. Wake Village takes pride in providing the best law enforcement to its citizens. “When a total stranger walks up to you and says ‘thank you for your service,’ that means the world to us. It lets us know that we are doing a good job and that the community is supporting us. Law Enforcement Appreciation Week was held last month, and the support our community showed us was truly amazing. We had several individuals and businesses bring food and snacks to the police department to share with us. That says a lot about our department as well as our community,” Jody says. “It also makes me very proud to see people with the Back the Blue stickers on their vehicles. It’s a reminder that there are still people out there who appreciate what we do and what we see every day. Police officers are human, too. We have good days, but we also have bad days. Don’t let one bad experience with an officer form your opinion of all police officers. Believe it or not, officers want to do the best they can for you in your situation.”
A police officer never knows what kind of call they will face during the course of a shift. It may be a domestic call, a robbery, or even a homicide, and yet officers stand ready to respond. “When I worked for TAPD, I was dispatched to a disturbance call on College Hill. When I arrived, I was met in the front yard by a female that they were fighting in the back. That’s all she said. I go to the back of the house, where the back door is standing wide open, and I can hear a verbal disturbance coming from inside the house. As I’m walking in the door, I hear the words ‘I’ll kill you.’ I entered a bedroom with my gun drawn and saw a male holding a female from behind with a gun to the side of her head. I immediately tell him to drop the gun as I’m starting to squeeze the trigger. He looked up and saw me, and luckily, he put the gun down and was taken into custody without incident. That goes to show, as an officer, you never know what the next call will bring,” Jody says.
Jody believes the most rewarding aspect of being a police officer is providing help to people in their time of need. He states, “No one calls the police when they are having a good day, so when you can actually help someone, and they appreciate it, it is very rewarding.”