HPD as well as other area law enforcement departments are eligible to submit nominees. County, State and Federal law enforcement organizations are also authorized to submit nominees as the membership of ASIS International is open to every level of government. Please submit nominees to the Public Safety Liaison & Benevolence Committee, ASIS International Houston Chapter - asis@asishouston.org.The ASIS International Houston Chapter annual dues underwrite the activities of the Public Safety Liaison & Benevolence Committee. To join the Houston Chapter click here.

Left to right -
Sergeant Ronald Mitchison
Officer Charles Lagroue
Greg Walker, Esq., ARM, CPP

In September of 2007, Officer Charles Lagroue responded to a possible suicide in progress involving a man threatening to jump off the ship channel bridge. Officer Lagroue arrived to see a man standing on the outer portion of the guardrail above an approximate 80-foot drop.

Officer Lagroue, a trained Crisis Intervention officer, notified Officers Dalton and Escobar to shut down the southbound traffic of the freeway while he attempted to converse with the suicidal man. The man ignored Officer Lagroue and leaned towards the edge of the overpass. At that moment, a man approached stating he was searching for his son after receiving a strange telephone call from him simply stating “I love you,” then hanging up. The man’s parents became deeply concerned when they were unable to reach him by telephone or at his job. The father explained that his son had recently experienced financial and marital problems and this behavior was not typical. After seeing the suicidal man, the father positively identified him as his son.

The son recognized his father and allowed him and Officer Lagroue to move closer. As he sat down on the guardrail, the man stood up as if to jump when Officers Dalton and Escobar approached. At the urging of his father, the man sat down again and covered his face with his T-shirt to wipe away some sweat. Officer Lagroue seized the opportunity to pull him over to the safe side of the guardrail and was then transported to Ben Taub Hospital.