We are delighted to announce that TMPA’s Officer of the Month is Officer John Mitchell, former president of the Irving Police Association, and active TMPA member. His strong sense of identity as an officer and TMPA member, compassion for fellow officers and the citizens he serves, and values of speaking out for his brothers and sisters at the State Capitol go well beyond the call of duty. Officer Mitchell encompasses all of TMPA’s and law enforcement’s highest qualities—he knows who he is and what he stands for, and he inspires others toward a deeper, more thoughtful commitment to public service.

Officer Mitchell was born and raised in Irving, and served Irving Police Department as an officer for 20 years. Mitchell knew he wanted to be a cop since he was 5 years old. As a child living on busy street in Irving, police would come to his neighborhood regularly for traffic reasons. Each time officers stepped out of their patrol cars, they had to put on brown riot helmets, and this image is still clear in his mind even after 20 years on the force. Although the department stopped issuing the helmets in the 80s, there are still some around the agency; when Mitchell comes across one in a colleague’s office, he’ll put it on and walk around. “I’d like to get one from the department some day,” he said.

Those old, brown riot helmets are iconic—they, and the rest of a uniformed officer’s protective gear, call us to remember and appreciate the inherent dangers of policing, and that the ultimate sacrifice can come quickly and without warning.

When asked of the most joyful and frustrating aspects of his career Officer Mitchell, who is a father of two replied, “I look at my line of work like raising children. There is nothing more frustrating and rewarding at the same time. The best part is taking someone to jail and contributing to a conviction when you know they have victimized someone. The media is the most frustrating part, because they are quick to jump on a “Cop Does Bad” story and rarely a “Cop Does Good” story. Usually, the facts are wrong in the “Cop Does Bad” story, but no one ever comes back to report their errors.”

One thing is certain—the media rarely ever captures an individual officer’s experience, particularly the personal experiences of working cases that shake you to the core and shape your worldview. There are two cases that will always haunt John Mitchell:

The Taco Bell murders in 1991; Jesse San Miguel and Jerome Green entered the restaurant to rob it. They forced four employees into a walk-in refrigerator where Miguel shot and killed each one. One of the hostages was a young, pregnant woman. Officer Mitchell had arrested Miguel before and was asked to confirm his identity after the incident. Officer Mitchell then went to the scene that he described as “a big bloody mess.”

The second case involved a 19-year old, well-rounded, straight-A student. She was on her way home from school and stopped to grab dinner. From what Mitchell could tell from the crime scene, she was eating while driving home and dropped something. When she tried to pick it up she swerved into oncoming traffic; she then over-corrected and lost control of the vehicle hitting a telephone pole. She was killed on impact. The most difficult thing for Officer Mitchell was walking up to the family’s door step to deliver the news.

It is his experiences, and his knowledge that officers everywhere are taking on this painful, haunting work that drive him to support TMPA and speak out for officers all across the state. During the 81st Legislative session, Officer Mitchell came to Austin to tell our elected officials just how critical retirement benefits are to an officer’s financial well-being. He met with key decision-makers to share the importance of the cost-of-living adjustments, and shared how changes would affect officers around the state. “It was an absolute eye-opener, being up there,” he shared. "You want to believe people are in it for the right reasons but then you realize some are really in it for status reasons. Being there reinforced what TMPA is doing for its members. Tom and Randal [TMPA lobbyists] are really respected there. People respond well to them. We got face time with every member that we wanted to, and I have no doubt that it’s because of those two and the relationships they've built. You can tell that they are in it for the right reasons."

Officer Mitchell has been a member of TMPA since he began his career in law enforcement. “TMPA offered the most personalized service. It has a great appeal because cops represent cops,” he shared. TMPA is governed by line-level, working, officers. Before passing the reigns over to Irving POA’s current president, Jason Dix, Officer Mitchell served as president for seven years. He remembers numerous times in his tenure when TMPA sent out private practice attorneys for critical incidents and also administrative appeals. “TMPA’s customer service is outstanding,” he remarked. “I also have sincere gratitude for the many evaluations of the city’s financial state TMPA has provided over the years.” (TMPA provides reports on city and county financial status free of charge to local associations.)