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An up close and personal interview with U.S. Police Veteran and Togetherweserved.com Member:
S/PO Rick A Welch (Ret) (1981-2008)
Irvine Valley College Police Department
WHAT INFLUENCED YOUR DECISION TO MAKE A CAREER IN LAW ENFORCEMENT?
I've always accepted challenges. I was handed a challenge by my father In-law William Bushnell, who is a retired police captain with the Lake Charles Police Department. He once told me that being a "Policeman" (Police Officer) was a fun, exciting, and a rewarding job, with stability, but you have  to 'Keep your nose Clean.' I was so young and didn't really know what it meant at the time to keep my nose clean. I finally figured out that meant do the right things, make the right choices. I kept thinking about it.
I was a Marine Corps Reserve Sgt. and my regular job at the time was working construction work. Lots of times being knee deep in mud. But sometimes being rained out or laid off. I took Captain Bushnell's advice and applied for the Lake Charles Police Department
One day while I was deep down in a dirt hole I'd dug for a foundation, I received news that I'd been hired by the Lake Charles PD for $6.40 an hour. Though I was making $10.76 in the mud hole, I took the police job anyway as it held the promise of a steady, exciting job and rewarding job where I could help my community.
I was glad I did get out of that dirt hole. In fact I jumped out of that mud hole with enthusiasm. The Lake Charles Police Department was the foundation laid for my career as a Law Enforcement Officer.
WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR CAREER PATH AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING NOW?
My career path has been community service. Marines, two Police Departments, mentoring. I wanted to give back more to my community in any way I could. I feel that teaching, or training would fit my experiences. I'm now retired to do the things I didn't have the time or opportunity  to do before, but am getting ready to get back to it.
My personal path is that of a man with good morals, character, compassion, and ambition to better myself, and sustain my family. Also to be a real friend to those who look for that from me.
My career path in law enforcement began in 1981 with the Lake Charles Police Department as a patrol officer, FTO, and served as Lake Charles Police Departments DWI task force, until re-enlisting for active duty in the Marine Corps in 1986. I had had a dual career as a police officer and a Marine Corps reservists beginning in 1982.
I served on Marine Corp active duty from January 1986 until I was released in 1991 with an Honorable Discharge.
1981-1986 Lake Charles Police Department/ PTL
1982-Present Lake Charles City Court Ward 3 Marshals Office/ Honorary Deputy Marshal. Given to those who meet earned special trust and diligence.
1991-2008 Irvine Valley College Police Department as the / CMP, FTO, and later Senior Patrol Officer.
 Leadership and setting the example were all attainable during my path. I spent most of my military time as a grunt specializing in weapons and those skills became part of future job as a Police Officer. I excelled during my tour as a Drill Instructor and Senior Drill Instructor from 1988 to 1990 at MCRD San Diego, CA. This provided additional leadership skills I used as a police officer.
After active service in 1991, I joined a Police Department in Southern California and retired in 2008. While I was on the PD, I simultaneously formed a Security Guard and Patrol Company, which I have operated until this date.
I've tried retirement, but that's not working out. Still Marching.
DID YOU SERVE IN THE MILITARY PRIOR? AND IF SO, IN WHAT BRANCH OF SERVICE? IN WHAT WAYS HAS MILITARY SERVICE INFLUENCED YOUR CAREER IN LAW ENFORCEMENT?
 I served in the Marine Corps with the rank of sergeant. First the USMC Reserves while I simultaneously served on the Lake Charles City Police Department. I went on active duty in 1986. After my active service ended in 1991, I joined the IVC PD in Southern California and retired in 2008.
The Military service prepared me by influencing my character, my discipline, leadership, and other related security skills.
I strongly recommend military service as a prerequisite to being a Police Officer.
WHICH, OF THE AGENCIES OR DEPARTMENTS YOU WERE ASSIGNED TO, DO YOU HAVE THE FONDEST MEMORIES OF AND WHY?
No apologies, the best Department was the Lake Charles Police Department. The fond memories abound. The reason was that the comradeship was like the Marine Corps. There were rules, regulations and Esprit De Corps, and good times as well as sad times. Many lessons were learned, many situations were survived.  The many lessons I learned I passed on to new officers.
Off-Duty Choir-Practice in the younger days was educational LOL.
I also have memories of four incidents that occurred while at Lake Charles City PD.
On April 10, 1982, Craig Hinch and I were working extra duty at an outdoor rock concert held at the Lake Charles Civic Center. The audience, reported to be about 2,000, became unsatisfied with the performance and began to hurl items at the band. Craig and I rushed in to bring order but quickly found ourselves holding off a very large crowd of angry hostile pot smoking idiots. After about ten minutes of fighting for our lives we were joined by Officer Gary Sensat. The large angry crowd kept beating on as we tried making arrests. We did not give up. After about 20 minutes six other officers from our department and two Louisiana State Troopers arrived. We made a total of 52 arrests that day. I was a "rookie" with only four months in the department at that time but was congratulated by my fellow officers for my fighting spirit and bravery during the melee. That felt really good. There was so much blood on us we nicknamed the hill there 'Hamburger Hill.'
On Dec 2, 1982, we responded to "an officer down" scene. Officer David Peter Hampton Sr. was shot and killed when he became involved in a struggle during a traffic stop at 10 pm. He and his training officer had stopped a vehicle and were issuing a ticket when one of the three occupants attacked them. When the officers attempted to arrest the man shots were fired fatally wounding Hampton. He left behind a wife and young son.
Eleven months later the trial ended but unfortunately the justice system for which Officer Hampton believe in betrayed him and all police officers. The accused was acquitted of all counts and set free, even after witness's observed the murder. Oh, that little option of doubt in the minds of the jury went a long way.
Around 8 am on January 3, 1983, I received a dispatch to respond to a woman being raped at the Piccadilly parking lot on Ryan Street in Lake Charles La. I was a training officer and riding shotgun was Butch Comer who had been on board about two months. As we rolled into the parking lot we could see a man in the driver's seat of a Dodge. Next to him a women was fighting with him. I hastened to the vehicle when suddenly the man pulled a gun. I drew my service revolver and yelled for him to drop his weapon, which he ignored. I raised my weapon just as the woman scrambled out of the Dodge. The man turned away from her, firing a round in my direction. He then turned to fire on the fleeing women when I opened up on him. A short gun battle ensued with the man slumping toward the steering column. I could see a severe wound on his head that was bleeding like a water hose. He died on the scene. One of my rounds entered the compartment of the vehicle, another punched out the keyhole in the driver's side door. Coroner later announced the man had killed himself.
 On a foggy December 23, 1984 night around 11 pm I was called to a plane crash on the south western outskirts of Lake Charles near Country Club Road. In a field spread out over about quarter-mile was the remains of a Beech A36.
As I walked toward through the debris field, I came across a scene that has haunted me ever since. Among the wreckage lay the bodies of a mother, father and their two children.
According to an NTCB review the pilot did not have the proper instruments to land his plane in the fog.
FROM YOUR ENTIRE LAW ENFORCEMENT CAREER WHAT PARTICULAR INCIDENT HAD THE BIGGEST IMPACT ON YOU AND WHY?
 The death of fellow Officer David Peter Hampton Sr, the failed justice system when his assailant was acquitted. The huge loss, the feeling of vulnerability was overwhelming. The hunt and the capture of his assailants. The memory of my fallen fellow officer's smile, his enthusiasm, and his heroism. Looking at him lying in his coffin for eternal sleep, mortally wounded by a murderer who squeezed the trigger on a 357 Magnum piercing my beloved brother's heart. Following the hearse in a line of Police Units. I was one of the fellow officers who carried his coffin and laid it next to his burial site. I still take that walk.
You can see his togetherweserved post. David Peter Hampton Sr.
OF THE MEDALS, AWARDS OR BADGES YOU RECEIVED, WHAT IS THE MOST MEANINGFUL TO YOU AND WHY?
 I was nominated by my former Chief at the last Department I worked for as Police Officer of the year in 1982. While on patrol we got a call that armed robbers know to have committed four robberies were seen near the Lake Charles Civic Center. While my partner stayed in the patrol car, I arrested the suspects at the center's bathroom area. They were about to attempt their fifth armed robbery.
I didn't get a medal, but my Police brothers made me feel like a hero for doing the job. Great days.
WHICH INDIVIDUAL PERSON FROM YOUR CAREER MADE THE MOST POSITIVE INFLUENCE ON YOU AND WHY?
Sgt. Craig S. Hinch, who was a training Officer with the rank of CPL at the time we met in December 1981. We ended up becoming best friends in life until his death in 2011.
Craig made the job more interesting, entertaining, and he was great at bringing you back up  after you were down on the bottom. He was a candle in the Dark. We did everything together on and off duty. We also did things together as couples with his wife and mine. We vacationed together in California. We worked for each other, and together. Many of our dangerous assignments were together. We fought side by side, we wept together when we lost a fellow officer. We relished and celebrated when we caught a bad guy. We were partners. He was an outstanding Officer. Every Aspect of Law Enforcement was his specialty.
If you have been reading the Reflections, you will know that. Sgt. Craig Steven Hinch of LCPD was awarded the Medal of Valor and was the first to do so at LCPD. He also received the first Chief?s Award, which is the highest award a police officer can receive. He later served as a Sheriff where he trained hundreds of Sheriff's deputies. He even had a doctorate in Theology.
After I came back for active duty in the Marines, I returned for a month of recruiter assistance at the RSS Lake Charles. I took this photo of Craig when he came by to visit.
Craig died on April 10, 2011 of Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as 'Lou Gehrig's Disease.' I miss him.
I cannot forget my Sergeant who was the personification of professionalism. Sgt. Louis Falgoust. Without his menacing appearance, demeanor, and projection of superior knowledge, I wouldn't have developed as well as a Police Officer as I did. He is now Sheriff Falgoust in a Wyoming County.
CAN YOU RECOUNT A PARTICULAR INCIDENT FROM YOUR CAREER THAT WAS FUNNY AT THE TIME AND STILL MAKES YOU LAUGH?
 There are so many. But honestly, keeping those things to ourselves serves everyone better. "You know what I mean!"
What someone finds funny might be just the thing that turns someone else off. Best to leave it sit. Those stories work best for sharing with the family at home or at choir practice.
WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSON YOU HAVE LEARNED AS A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER?
I have learned many lessons and the most important lesson I have learned as a Police Officer is that life is very important, and that the job of a Police Officer is an awesome responsibility. It's a big shoe to fill.
WHAT LAW ENFORCEMENT ASSOCIATIONS ARE YOU A MEMBER OF, IF ANY? WHAT SPECIFIC BENEFITS DO YOU DERIVE FROM YOUR MEMBERSHIP(S)?
Orange County Police Officers Association (Orange County Sheriff's Dept.)
F.O.P Lake Charles, Louisiana
C.O.P.S California Organization of Police and Sheriffs
HOW HAS SERVING AS A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER INFLUENCED THE WAY YOU CONDUCT YOUR PERSONAL LIFE AND YOUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHERS OUTSIDE OF THE DEPARTMENT?
 I'd say it has kept me out of trouble.LOL. I am a law abiding citizen, I respect others, and have a great relationship with my community. Once you have become a part of any Fraternity, you are changed; you become part of that lifestyle, in this case a Police Lifestyle, or in other cases, a Military Lifestyle.
Those seeking this unique brotherhood find satisfaction in the togetherness; it's good, moral, and satisfying. Others outside are just that in all honesty, just outside.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU HAVE FOR A ROOKIE WHO HAS JUST PUT ON THE BADGE?
 Your life and the life of your fellow Police Officer are important. As you are serving our community, remember all that you have learned at the Police Academy, and certainly all that you have learned since the Academy should be applied to your walk every day. Always be in the caution. Never assume you are completely safe. Always be prepared for the worse.
Be kind to the citizens you work for and appreciate every day you have to live on this earth. "Be Aware." And pray before you go to bed each night, and in the morning before you go to work, and before you leave your home, that God watch over you, your partner, and all of your family.
Thank God every day for that extra day of life you can enjoy.
IN WHAT WAYS DO YOU FEEL THIS WEBSITE CAN BENEFIT THE LAW ENFORCEMENT COMMUNITY?
This site gives me the opportunity to keep in touch with other officers I have known. I have found friends from decades ago on this site.  Here there is a sense of freedom of speech, and reality in communication. Healthy conversation and debates are found here. All helpful.
There is something very solid, very real, and unique about being a member here. I have expanded my friendships, my horizon of trust. I'm sharing my story with other law enforcement brothers who understand because of our common backgrounds. The latitude of functions on this site is almost unlimited, yet private. I also think the site gives rise to opportunities that are yet unknown. I value this site for its potential.
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TWS VOICES
TWS Voices are the personal stories of men and women who currently serve, or who previously served as a US Police or Federal Officer, and conveys how serving their Country and Community has made a positive impact on their lives. If you would like your story to be featured in a future edition of Voices, or know someone else who may be interested, please contact TWS Voices HERE.
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