#132- "When Family Falls and Duty Calls" with TXDPS Director Gabe Ortiz

From the battlefield… to the jail floor… to the front seat of a Texas DPS patrol unit — this is a story built on grit, sacrifice, and purpose.

In this powerful episode, Texas DPS Regional Director Gabriel L. Ortiz sits down with Blue Grit to break down his remarkable 25-year journey in law enforcement. From his early days serving in the U.S. Air Force Security Forces, to working inside a county jail, to earning his badge as a Texas State Trooper, Director Ortiz has seen every level of the profession.

He takes listeners inside his rise through the ranks — from Trooper to Special Agent, Lieutenant, Captain, and Major — as he leads complex investigations targeting gangs, narcotics, human trafficking, and violent crime across Texas.

But this episode goes deeper than the badge.

Director Ortiz opens up about a deeply personal chapter — his brother choosing a different path in life… one that ultimately ended in tragedy after being murdered by a rival gang. It’s a raw and powerful reminder of the realities law enforcement faces — not just professionally, but personally. (Check out this other powerful podcast about this story- https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-brothers-ortiz/id1858078657)

This is more than a career story.
 It’s about leadership, loss, resilience, and the unwavering commitment to serve.

You don’t want to miss this one.

Transcript

Data Driven Crime Focus

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Violent crime. And uh like I told you before, this was a data-driven operation. Um, we were not going to into any community that that didn't have uh that we didn't have data on as far as the the number of calls for service, uh the violent crime that was occurring in those areas. And so our troopers were coming in and and and making a positive impact, and and a lot of the community members were very appreciative uh of what we were doing in the community of Austin.

SPEAKER_02 0:24

Welcome back, viewers, watchers, listeners. I'm your host, Tower Owen. We are in the studio today with Field Services Supervisor Mike Gomez, and our guest today is DPS director Gabe Ortiz. What's going on, gentlemen? Uh is the polling really bad because I'm really tired. Yeah, I am too. I was exhausted. My son today, uh, which usually is my kind of my bright uh he's my jump out bed guy, right? He jumps in, just jumps right in the shower, and it it took a little bit to get out of bed today. So I think that's uh I just wanted to. Of course, we have that hospice bed now. Me and my wife, we ended up getting a good deal on on a fundraising event there in Wimberley, but all was good. Mike, what's going on with you, man?

SPEAKER_01 1:08

You know, we've been really busy out in the road. Yeah. Uh a lot of events have been coming up. It's it's just a time of the year where the weather's good, so a lot of the events are happening, either whether it's a golf tournament or a fundraiser or even a barbecue cook off somewhere. Right. Or even just a community event where you have a lot of officers working in the event. Yep. And we're we're showing up to try to give some service, you know? Uh but it'll slow down around July when it gets real hot, nobody wants to do anything.

SPEAKER_02 1:37

I'm fine with that. That's fine. Everybody's out of school too. So uh big success on the sports uh capital of Texas motorcycle rodeo are us and Rhine Rock Police Department, Rhine Rock Express, uh great event, great time. It's always good. It's that it's starting to become kind of a a um a family reunion. Some of those motor guys continue to come to that event and they have into first year, and so it's good to see those continue to show up and support that.

SPEAKER_01 2:00

Yeah, I mean, you have a hundred plus riders out there and they're starting to become familiar faces. Yeah. Yeah, just like our conference.

SPEAKER_00 2:07

So glad to hear that because a lot of those guys that are actually riding are from the capital region.

Ortiz Origin Story And Air Force

SPEAKER_02 2:11

So they are. And your guys represented well and they are on their best behavior, Director, I can assure you. So that's right. Glad to know it. Uh speaking of conference, July 24th or the 26th, we're back in Dallas at the Hyatt Regency. You guys can check out TNPA.org. There's a splash screen on there. It will direct you over to a website called Handbid, which is the registration process that we utilize here at TMPA. That website also uh allows you to purchase auction items and to uh bid on our biggest fundraiser for the year for TMPA charities, which I think TMPA charities is our number one give back program here at TMPA. We assist officers and families uh going through hard times, losing the you know, house fires, uh, and it also supplies our line of duty death benefit here at TMPA, which is something we don't like to do, but it's part of the job and nature of the of the of the beast. So our TMPA charities event is always at our conference, and you can purchase those auction online autumns through the registration process for our conference again, July 24th through the 26th, joint TMPA Texas FOP conference. We will be there. So anyway, let's dive off into our guest. Director Gabe Ortiz has got an interesting story uh and a very, very, very successful DPS career. We want to bring him on and talk about uh the ins and outs of DPS and how he got started. And uh really, I guess we should kick this off by just saying who the hell is Gabe Ortiz? Where'd you start off? Where'd you grow up? And how would interest you in uh going to uh DPS?

Becoming A Texas State Trooper

SPEAKER_00 3:36

Do you want the long version or the short version? Yeah, whatever version you uh you want to you want to explain to us. Because because law enforcement was was not in the cards for me. It's not something I even thought about. Uh my dad was a welder by trade. I was supposed to go work out in the in the in the plant with dad. Uh I tried community college, it didn't quite work out. Um, so it was dad's idea to take me to a military recruiter. Wow. Um, because I was on a downward spiral, wasn't doing that great in school, uh, was kind of screwing off and and just being a knucklehead. So dad took me to a military recruiter, and it's the same kind that probably exists today, that's in the shopping strip uh between Academy and Gold's gym. And uh this is in in Brazoria County, by the way, where I grew up. I was born in Freeport, Texas. Um graduated from Braz's Wood High School uh in 1991, and again tried college for about a year, just didn't quite work out. So dad takes me uh to this recruiter, uh, and we walk in, and honestly, the only guy there at the time was was the Air Force recruiter. And so we walk in and he said, Can I help you? Dad says, uh, yeah, my son wants to talk to you. And uh I said, Okay, I I didn't really know what I was gonna talk to him about, but I I talked to him and I said, Yes, sir. I said, I guess I'm here to talk to somebody about the military. And he says, Well, let me come on back here, let me show you a couple of videos. And uh my first choice was something related to satellites, I think satellite communications. Second choice was security police. And satellite communications would have taken like six months delayed entry program. Uh security police was probably like 30 days. And so after taking the ASFAB test and doing all the things, uh the recruiter calls me and says, Hey, if you want your second choice, you can go to be gone to San Antonio um in a matter of about a month. And so I told dad and dad said, Hey son, I guess you're gonna be a security police officer. Yeah. Uh and that's what started my career in law enforcement, and that was in in November of 1992. Uh so gone, I was gone to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, uh, went through basic training, went through technical school, uh, Security Police Academy, graduated, uh, and my first duty station was in Malmstrom, Montana. Oh, that's great. Yeah, Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana, Great Falls, never been there. Matter of fact, I I had to pull out the the US map to figure out where Montana was. So go to Montana, uh spent two years there, uh, got sent to um Interlook Air Base Turkey, um, did some time in the Middle East and in in Europe, uh, and then finished out my last uh year uh at DIS Air Force Base, where that's what brought me back to Texas. So uh when I got out uh in 1997, um needed a job. So I was like, hey, maybe I'll just stay in law enforcement. And so I applied for Taylor County Jail, uh, worked for worked for the sheriff's office for about a year and a half, and while I was in uh working in the jail, I met a guy by the name of JC Welch. JC was an old retired trooper, retired from TABC as a lieutenant. We're working alongside each other for several months, and JC says, Gabe, what are you doing here? And I was like, What do you mean am I doing here, JC? I'm working with you. Yeah, we're working. And um he said, Gabe, I I've worked alongside you for the last few months, and and you are way too sharp and you got way too much potential to be working in the jail. This is a retirement job for him. Right. And he's like, You don't need to be in the jail. Kudos to that guy for doing that. Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah. So what he said, he said, next time a trooper comes in, uh, we're gonna go talk to him about DPS. So the trooper, Anthony Bennett, who just retired as a CID lieutenant uh about a year or so ago, and I and I told this same story at his retirement. Uh, Anthony Bennett, uh, JC Welch calls me to booking, and he says, Hey, there's a trooper booking a prisoner in. He says, Come on down here. So I come down here and he he did something similar to what my dad did. Bennett comes out and he says, Hey troop, offshore tease wants to speak to you. And uh and I said he said, Well, yeah, he said, you know, what's going on, guys? I said, Well, I'm I'm interested in DPS, but I'm not really sure what DPS does, or you know, I I really didn't know much about DPS until JC mentioned it. So um he says, Well, uh, you know, um here's what we do. We, you know, we patrol um the highways across Texas, you know, we do retradiction, uh, you know, there's a lot of other things that we do. We've got multiple divisions, but but here's the gist of what we do. As a matter of fact, I've got an application out in the car. Um I was supposed to give it to somebody else, but they haven't called me back. So if you want it, you can take it. And he said that he said, the thing is you've got two weeks to meet the deadline for the next recruit school. So I go take the application, and back then, paper application, it's mad, I it it seemed like it was about a hundred pages long to fill out this application, very thick. Um, I had to go get my high school transcripts, all you know, all the documents that that that that you needed for the application. Um so started filling out the application. Wife says, What are you doing? And I said, I'm filling out an application to be a Texas State trooper. And she's like, Well, what's that? And I said, Well, I'm not really sure, but uh they make about$35,000 a year, so we're gonna be rich. Because that at the time, uh as you guys know, back in the days, man, I was making about$20,000 a year uh working at the county jail, and that was just not cutting it for us. And we had kids at small kids at the time. Um, so I put in the application, did all the testing, and get a f get a call uh months later, and I got accepted to the DPS Academy of A99. Um, and so that's that's what started my career with with Texas DPS and um started September 27th of 1999, and uh went to recruit school, graduated in March, March 31st, 2000. Uh, got my first duty station uh at Lake Jackson, which is home for me, which is never a good idea to go back to your home. Oh, it's not. Uh after, you know, after you graduate the police academy, um, because it we all know that we're gonna run into family members and friends and and and get put in situations that are that may be a little difficult. But um, so yeah, that's what kind of started uh at least as a trooper. Uh spent four and a half years in Lake Jackson uh as a trooper, and then I kind of started taking tests for back then it was called criminal law enforcement division, now it's criminal investigations division. Uh and then back then you had multiple, you know, you had different services. You had narcotic service, you had motor vehicle theft service, uh, you had special crimes. And so I took tests for special crimes and narcotics and and and happened to um make uh the interview board for narcotics and special crimes and went to the interview board uh for special crimes and and found out the next day that uh that I was getting promoted to back then they were called sergeant investigators. Yes. Uh today it's special agent, but uh got the got the promotion, so I I didn't even go to the narcotics board. Um and then uh got my first duty assignment um in CLE back then was was El Paso, never never been to El Paso. Um but that was really the only thing that they had, you know. The the the commander called me, and this is you know, obviously we've had a lot of title changes over the years, but the commander said, Hey Gabe, uh we'd like to offer you a position. First of all, congratulations on the promotion. We'd like to offer you a position in El Paso. And I and I'm kind of waiting as there, you know, for some other things. Yeah, anywhere else? Anywhere else I can go? And uh El Paso was it. I think the last three or four of us uh didn't have a choice. That's where the vacancies existed, and so we got sent to El Paso and um never been culture shock for me. I mean, I'm Hispanic. It's a different Hispanic. Very different. In what position exactly? Like what were you be doing? It was special just so the great thing about special crimes, and what I like about special crimes, is that I mean, it it was so there were so many different things that you can do. You weren't just limited to doing like, let's say, narcotics investigations. Right. Yeah, we can actually dabble in narcotics investigations if we wanted to, but we focused on fugitives, um, racetrack investigations. I mean, we had guys assigned to the U.S. Marshall Task Force, we had guys assigned to the Joint Terrorism Task Force. Um, it was just a lot of different things that we did and special crimes. And so uh that's what I enjoyed. I mean, I I actually that's where I really started working uh a lot of gang investigations, um, you know, and became a subject matter expert in gangs uh while I was in El Paso. Um so spent uh a lot longer than I than I had anticipated in El Paso. I was thinking maybe we'd do a year uh or so or two years and then come back to Central Texas or maybe even South Texas, uh well, Southeast Texas. Right. And uh we ended up staying for for eight years in El Paso. Yeah, and and um I went from sergeant investigator, and of course they they they they changed uh they re did a reorganization and then we became criminal investigations division, and then you know we came, we had special agents. Um I actually went from you know special agent, sergeant investigator to lieutenant to captain in those eight years. And um it was a great experience. We had an opportunity to work a lot of cartel investigations out there. Uh I was on the the Safe Streets Task Force out there, joined Terrorism Task Force out there. It was just a lot of exposure. A lot of exposure, just a wealth of experience for me and um met some really good people. Um there's some guys out there that I still know today. That matter of fact, the region chief uh who's out there uh today, um, he he actually was one of my guys. I I think when I was the captain out there, he was one of my lieutenants um that worked uh drugs because we changed the title again. It was narcotics then and then when they changed it to drugs, and then we had gangs, and then we had special investigations. So um, but yeah, decided um to come back. We we we were like, hey, you know, we this is our opportunity uh to come back to to Central Texas. Uh it was around 2012. That was uh the vacancy at uh headquarters. And uh I told my wife, I said, Hey, we've been in El Paso for for quite some time, but it is so far from everything in Texas. You know, um my family's still in the Houston area, her family was from Abilene. 12 hours away from Houston. Yeah, man. It's it's it was everything was so far. And and I mean you're you're like there's a time difference out there, you're an hour behind out there. And so um in 2012, we we had an opportunity to come back and and I put in for a position uh at our headquarters. It was in um CID administration, and so we we came back and and have been here you know ever since and and have actually promoted a few times since then. But uh And what is a position like that?

SPEAKER_02 14:13

What would be the day-to-day operations for that type of position coming back to headquarters? I mean, like you obviously show up to the office, but are you are you are you kind of the end-all say-all of of what starts the investigations, or do you just oversee cases or how how does that kind of work? Because honestly, the cool thing about DPS that nobody's that if somebody's never really been a trooper, it's kind of that you don't really understand. Most police departments, it's this way structured because sometimes you have police chiefs to go to DPS is kind of still a standalone entity. I mean, hell, y'all do reports all some way from start to finish. And so it's kind of interesting from that that standpoint of like, so what exactly did does that position do?

CID Career And El Paso Gangs

SPEAKER_00 14:51

I I wish it was that. Uh CID administration actually was more on I mean, and it's in the title, you know, it was on the administrative side. So you handled uh issuing of equipment to the agents. Okay and you you basically kept up with the fleet inventory of all the vehicles, you know, new do new vehicle issuance. Um you kept up with, you made sure that um, you know, all the agents got the training that they needed, whether it was rate entry or some type of uh Fourth Amendment training. Um and so all those those that's kind of what you supervised in that um in that area was was like training and and uh you know um admin staff that were over fleet and and all those different things. So it wasn't wasn't the most exciting job. Uh it's necessary, but it wasn't the most exciting job. So I uh honestly I only spent um probably about a year, a little over a year in that position, and then I was like, I gotta get back out in the field. So uh I transferred back out to the field uh as as a captain. I was a still a CID captain, but transferred and I and had the the Waco district for CID. And then this is about the time when when they had the the shooting uh at Twin Peaks between the Banditos and Cossacks in 2015. So those were my guys up in Waco uh that were on the ground when the shooting happened.

SPEAKER_02 16:11

And you're basically just overseeing those that that big of our operation uh when when they for those that don't know and listen out there that's not law enforcement, DPS will get involved uh at the request sometimes, specifically Rangers and state uh investigators, uh at the request of the DA's office and or the head of the Agency. So when something that that that magnet that huge happens, like the Cossacks and Bandito shooting, uh I'm sure that letter was uh typed up or email was sent rather quickly about the assistance of needing DPS. And the cool thing about having DPS in your uh in your corner investigations like that, their labs are significantly quicker uh than you would send it off somewhere else or at the agency. So having DPS involved in investigations like that, number one is manpower, but number two, the resources DPS has. As uh Director Ortiz was saying, it's uh it's magnificent, and it's also it can expedite some things that you necessarily wouldn't have uh in your back pocket.

SPEAKER_00 17:08

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I mean, we work great with the locals. Sometimes we do, well, we have the autonomy to work our own investigations, um, you know, parallel investigation, but if it if it's going to involve if all of a sudden an investigation is is, you know, there's there's a link there between an investigation that that somebody else's work and whether it's the locals or or maybe the the the feds. Um we've got great partnerships with all those agencies, and and it's never been an issue for hey, we want to work this jointly, uh, or hey, you guys are so involved in it, you've got a lot more than we do, we'll just let you run with it and we'll just you know hands off and call us if you need something.

SPEAKER_02 17:42

I do have to ask us as a joke. You don't have the ranger sprinkle dust because I don't care what happens. Anybody in CID with DPS, if a ranger picks up the phone and he needs something back from the lab, they sprinkle that ranger, you know, the ranger dust on there, and it happens just like that. Is that true or false?

SPEAKER_00 17:58

I I honestly you know uh it it really just it depends on on the on the the the severity of the case and the and the priority of the case. Um we all know that that politics plays a role in in everything that we do. Um I mean, especially for me. I'm at I'm at the Capitol region, right? So um it really depends. I mean is it a hope high profile case? Is it something that that that we need uh to make a priority? So there there is times where if there's something uh that's high profile, or hey, this is something that the colonel has requested, or or you know, uh uh as somebody in politics has requested, then yeah, I I think the crime lab will move a little bit quicker.

SPEAKER_02 18:37

Yeah, well that's always a joke. With my DPS friends that I I hang out with, and I've I've got a lot of Ranger friends that it used to annoy me so bad because they would pick up the phone and I just make the same phone call and the ranger does it, and who keep in mind was a trooper two weeks before that, or a trooper sergeant, and all of a sudden he's a ranger. It's just it's a comical thing, but I I respect the hell out of those guys. Yeah, love them to death. Everyone that I've known has have been great. But so you're in Waco, uh, you get transferred up there. Uh at what point? How long did you stay in that position?

SPEAKER_00 19:05

I was in Waco for about uh for about two years, and I had a conversation with the uh the assistant chief at the time, and he said, Hey Gabe, we're gonna have a vacancy in the gang program. And this is just a lateral, it's not a promotion, but um in the gang program they had captains that that kind of oversaw the the gang program for the for the state and made sure that all the regions that they stayed on task, and you know, we we would create goals and objectives uh and and prioritize the investigations and and it basically we would look at who's committing the the most crime as it relates to gangs and and and are our agents focusing on these gangs. And so um it was it was a close relationship between headquarters and and and the field. Um but the the assistant chief said, hey Gabe, you got a strong background in gangs uh from being in El Paso, and um, you know, the major uh of of the gang program is going to be retiring soon. You know, that could be an opportunity for you. So I actually came back, um, it was just a lateral, but I transferred into the gang program, and that was about 2016. Um, and so uh spent about two years there, really enjoyed it, and that's when I really got involved. I I've been involved with Texas Gang Investigators Association since about 2005, uh, but but even more so when I got to the gang program as a captain and then became really involved with the uh Texas Violent Group uh violent group uh crime task force. Yep. Or I'm sorry, the violent gang task force. Um and so um man, it was it was really, really great uh because that's that was kind of where my passion was. Yeah, I I really, really enjoyed working gangs. Um and then shortly after that, about two years later, is uh when I got appointed to uh to major and assigned to the uh the Capitol region. That's cool. And what exactly is the does that entail for that position? So it it's very unique. Uh unlike some of the other regions. I mean, you you don't work traditional uh CID investigations. I mean, outside of the Capitol region, you're working more organized crime. I mean, you're working drugs, you're working gangs, uh, you're working fraud. There's a lot of different things you do where as a capital, uh, at the Capitol, you're more of a reactive force. Uh crime happens and they call CID. And it could be uh a threat directed toward one of our legislators, and we have to do a follow-up investigation or uh a theft occurs at on the Capitol uh ground. Somebody, you know, let's uh a state representator is, you know, alleges that somebody something was stolen from their office, uh car broken into. Um, you know, we we've we recently had a uh a sexual assault uh at the Capitol that we we started. We we'll actually do the preliminary uh workup and then we'll call the ranks to handle the uh sexual assault investigation. There's just so many different things that we do. And then and then we do we've got a counter surveillance uh mission uh where our guys are operating covert. Around the Capitol grounds looking for indicators of criminal activity or a possible terrorist activity. There's people out there, bad actors looking to attack an you know critical infrastructure, especially the symbolic Texas Capitol. But we also potentially because of of the politics of it, you know, if if if if they don't like something we're doing, I'm gonna hear about it quickly.

SPEAKER_01 22:43

Yeah, and that's that's what I was gonna bring up, you know, from from being at the Capitol, it's it's a different animal when it comes to you know who's who should be working at the Capitol, shouldn't be working at the Capitol. Yeah I'm saying it's not like and I and our phrase rephrase this for some for our some of our viewers out there, you know, what we used to see back in the day with SROs, it was sometimes unfortunately the guy that was down on patrol didn't want to be there anymore, but had two or three years left and so they wouldn't stick him in the school. Yeah. You know, they'd stick him in the school. But that's the wrong person to send to the school, especially to being politically correct and and dealing with kids. You know, uh that's been a big change over the last I think ten years. You see a lot better. Now you have more structure, more actual police departments, you know. Uh but let me let me let me ask you this. So the protest, how you I know I know that's probably a lot of intelligent gathering on how many you think are gonna show, you know, where it's coming from and what their intentions are. Can you kind of walk us through kind of just when you get that call that you have the information that you are gonna have protest on Saturday?

Headquarters Work And Major Cases

SPEAKER_00 23:53

Yeah, and and and I usually we we do a really great job, um, especially on the Intel side. Um, you know, we had a whole division dedicated to intelligence, you know, the intelligence and counterterrorism division, which is now changed to Homeland Security uh division. Uh they still have the intelligence component, they just changed the the division title. But um, you know, we we usually bring in and we rely on our our intelligence analysts to to provide us with information on uh if there's gonna be a protest. I mean that they they they follow social media, they follow, you know, multiple platforms to get that information about, hey, there's gonna be a protest. And you know, uh sometimes it's it's hard to determine how many people are gonna show up. Um but on social media, a lot of times it's you know, they're they're like they'll give you an opportunity to to check the box, you know. Uh are you are you? Going and not going there, you know. Uh but but but still that that's that helps us some. Um but but you just never know. You know, do we we just recently had the No Kings protest uh uh you know last uh last weekend? Uh the first one that we had uh last year at the at the state capitol was about 15,000 people. And we that we really didn't predict that. We you know, we did the best we could, and we brought outside resources in, uh troopers from from FFO teams, uh Field Force operation teams from across the state uh to s to augment my troopers. But um, you know, we we sure we certainly didn't didn't anticipate 15,000 people. We estimated probably about half of that. Yeah. Um and and and we do a really, like I said, they we our analysts do a really good job. I think probably 90% of the time, we can probably predict plus or minus five, 10% uh on the numbers of of people that are gonna attend those protests.

SPEAKER_02 25:43

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 25:43

And and we're really good about getting the intel. I mean, you can you can see the chatter on social media on on some of their intentions. Are they gonna be peaceful? Uh are there gonna be some agitators that show up? Um, and so um so far, so good. You know, we've done a really good job. And I and also, you know, we we we got a call from from UT uh last year. Um, you know, this is the with the uh Israel Hamas conflict, you know, shortly after that, you started seeing a lot of pro-Palestinian protests uh across the nation. Um and we we we started to see them at the UT campus, and so the UT called us and and we we supported them uh uh on campus. And uh, you know, those are the things that is you know, that's the kind of stuff that keeps me up at night because as long as nothing happens, you know, we can rest easy. Yeah. It's a success. Yeah, it's a success. Nothing happens, yeah. So but but you just never know. I mean, uh you when you've got that many people, um, you know, there was one uh Palestinian, pro-Palestinian protest at the Capitol that that turned out about 20,000 people. And um it was peaceful out of that group. There was probably about 150 agitators, but I mean I in my mind I'm thinking if these people were to turn against us, there's really nothing we can do. Um yeah, we we get caught in those situations, but uh I think you know, a lot of the lot of planning, uh, you know, we do a lot of operational planning before these, you know, we'll activate our emergency operations center, and we've got all the resources in. Um, and it's not just DPS, you know, it's it's it's our local partners, you know, APD. Uh we work with you know uh with the feds uh quite a bit uh on the Intel side as well. But uh, I mean it's it's a collaborative effort to make this thing a success.

SPEAKER_02 27:24

How challenging can it be? You coming from El Paso, within working in Waco, and then and then you're here in Austin, right? And we and we've talked about the Austin politics a lot, and I'm not gonna certainly dive off into it. But managing and supervising troopers in this area uh with the political environment that Austin is so unique, right? On the from the DA's office to the city council, you seem to have a very well-balanced, even kill type mentality. And you come into Austin, who historically has has done some anti-law enforcement things. We talked about this off camera about the George Floyd and the defund movement in 2020, and now you're having to manage these people. What message or what kind of what position does that kind of put you in from being a state government director of DPS and then trying to push that message to number one, keep your troops morale up and stay focused on the mission? I'm sure it's a difficult task.

SPEAKER_00 28:19

It can be at times, especially with the politics, like you said. I mean, there was a lot of cases that, you know, during George Floyd, I mean, we we filed multiple cases. Some of them were ag assault against public servant. Um, you know, we had several troopers that were assaulted. Um, there was, you know, there's some vandalism, there was criminal mischief, there was a lot of different things that happened at the Capitol, and a lot of those charges got dismissed. Um, and so we it's very, very it's demoralizing, it's disappointing. But one of the things I tell these troopers when they're coming in was like, hey, we we we can't control uh anything beyond what we can control. Uh if if we see a violation, we make an arrest. Um and so that's all we can do. If we take somebody to jail um based on, you know, some charges, uh whether it's an assault or whether it's a theft or or you know something else, that's what we can control. I mean, we we do our jobs daily. Uh we we arrest criminals, we put up, we put bad guys in jail. And at the end of the day, we we have no control over whether these people are gonna be prosecuted or not. But at the end of the day, we can say we did our job.

SPEAKER_02 29:18

Well, and to my point about you working with local city officials back when Austin was defunded, Governor Abbott at his direction, uh kind of gave McCraw the direction of, hey, we're gonna put troopers on the ground. We're gonna put troopers on the ground in Austin and assist APD and keep those communities safe. One of those instances where you were over that command, I guess you were a major then, right? Correct. Correct. Uh so you were you were helping out APD and kind of and facilitating that. Again, it goes back to what I said earlier. How do you maintain that high the high morale uh with the troopers coming in an environment? You know, when we started, I started in 2004-ish, and it seemed like the troopers that were going into DPS, they did not want to go to the valley. Like the valley was like, oh my God, I'm going to the border. Um it's because it's a far drive. Because it's a far drive, right? But now talking to some troops, that's some younger troops, it's like, man, I put me anywhere but Austin. Put me anywhere, but I don't want to be anywhere near that Travis County border just because of the politics involved. How how what how difficult can it be to keep those guys on task and and and mission focused and to maintain a good relationship with the locals?

SPEAKER_00 30:22

Yeah, I it honestly, I I think it comes from the top, you know, the the messaging and and and our colonels are really big really good do a really good job of pushing that messaging at in-service, at their area meetings about, hey, DPS, again, we can't control the politics. Yeah, uh, we can't control who's the elected DA. Uh DPS has got to do their job. And uh I I think that message has resonated all the way down, and and troopers are I mean, you you despite all of that, I mean, you these guys are highly motivated. You know, we just had the top trooper competition last week where you got 140 troopers from across the state uh competing in physical fitness and driving uh and shooting and and and tactics and and uh man, these guys all over the state, it doesn't really matter. I I I don't think those guys let that you know let the politics impact them and how they do their jobs, and they they just do it and they do it well. Um but going back to what you're talking about, uh I I was a major in criminal investigations division at the time. It wasn't even my region, uh, but but uh like we spoke earlier, that was one of the things that uh Colonel McCraw had asked me to do was was get some messaging out there uh with the local media, uh the New York Times about what we were doing in Austin um to target violent crime. And uh like I told you before, this was a data-driven operation. Um we were not going to into any community that that didn't have uh that we didn't have data on as far as the number of calls for service, uh the violent crime that was occurring in those areas. And so our troopers were coming in and and and making a positive impact. And and a lot of the community members were very appreciative uh of what we were doing in the community of Austin. Um obviously the perception was that we were unfairly targeting communities of color, but uh that was not the case at all. And if you were to poll those people that live in that community, they would like, hey, keep DPS here.

SPEAKER_02 32:10

Well, and what and what's even more interesting is that for the cop out there that's listening, that's sitting in your patrol car right now in the Pygmal Wigley parking lot, I want you to process right now you can name every single side street within a two-mile radius. You take a trooper from Marshall, Texas, or take a trooper from Center Texas or Texarcana or El Paso, and you stick them in Austin and say, go forth and conquer and go go be police in an environment in a community that hasn't that has been now defunded and that it's now you're it's not really a common occurrence to see a cop car, that's a dangerous situation. I don't care who you are or what badge you're wearing, you don't know the environment, you don't know where you're at. And so I thought about that when all the George Flores protests were going on, they're sending troopers at the request of the Colonel, and I get that, but I was thinking, man, those guys are in a in a in a unique situation and they handle it professionally and they handle it with class and they stay focused on the mission. So, you know, hats off to those guys for doing that, and they're gonna do it again if uh if need be. Yeah. Same thing in Dallas. They did the same thing in Dallas. I mean, you guys kind of are always the I don't want to say the stepchildren of kind of get, you know, happen to happen to answer that call, but they but they do it and they do it every single time and they don't gripe about it. And that's what I love about the DPS troops to do that.

Capitol Region Threats And Protests

SPEAKER_00 33:21

Yeah, that it it it doesn't really matter what the mission is. I mean, those those guys are gonna go ahead and do it, and and you know, whether it's going down to uh to the coast for you know hurricane duty uh or some other you know natural uh you know, when West had the explosion, yeah, uh, or or Uvaldi uh or you know some other mass shooting that that that's occurred. I mean, El Paso had the the shooting. I mean, it it doesn't really matter what the mission is, those guys are gonna come in um and and adapt uh to to not only to the environment uh but to the situation. And you know, uh despite what you know, even coming to the Capitol, like every you know, we've got legislative session, you know, coming up next year. I mean, we're bringing in troopers from from all over the state uh to augment my guys, and and man, those guys have the best attitudes. Um always, you know, they stay professional. Uh we get a lot of uh you know compliments from from our state reps and and uh you know about how professional the troopers are uh and and they then you know they certainly appreciate it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:17

Well you're definitely a unique person to get to know and a and and one that I highly respect. And and that being said, you know, you look at me and Mike and you look at the different facets and different aspects of different life incidents that have taken place. You yourself have had one of those situations, uh, and and the death of your brother. Back in, I guess going back to who the hell Gabe Ortiz is, let's kind of dive off into that, how it impacted you professionally, personally, and how it impacted the pa the uh the family. Because last it was it last year it still had the story on on the on your brother?

The Brothers Ortiz And Gang Violence

SPEAKER_00 34:50

Uh you talking about the podcast? Yes, sir. Yeah, yeah. The podcast, uh, it's called The Brothers Ortiz was released in December last year. Okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:58

Let's dive off into it and kind of how how it all took place uh very lightly because I'm I want I want to drive people to go listen to that podcast, but it's a very unique story.

SPEAKER_00 35:06

Yeah, well, it it you know it's it's unique and how this even came together. Um, but you know, brother and I, uh the the essentially the story is about two brothers who took two very different paths in life. Um, you know, I took the path of of law enforcement and uh brother took the path of crime. And you know, I I climbed the right that climbed the ranks of Texas DPS and and rose to the level of a of a region chief, and and you know, my brother climbed the ranks of uh of the gang world and became a shot caller with the tango blast. And so um, but when we were younger, uh, I mean, we're just we're just two brothers, just like anybody else. And we were raised in a Christian home. Um, but what what really changed things, and because my brother and I were four years apart, I was older, uh, but when I went to the U.S. Air Force, it I was 19 years old, and my brother was 15, um, that that really hurt him. And he he told me later on in life, he said, Gabe, you left me. Um, you you looked out for me, you kept me out of trouble, uh, I looked up to you. Um, and that that kind of stayed me for for for a while. Um, and it kind of hurt me that he, you know, that he said that because I'm like, hey, bro, you why didn't you follow me to the military? Why don't you take that path? And you took a different path. Um But um yeah, so so the so that's what the story's about essentially is the path between the two brothers um and the different lives that we've lived, and then ultimately it ends with with the with the tragedy of him being murdered uh in in 2023 uh by gang members. And so uh there's a whole other story behind that, but you know, the investigation, you know, my involvement um in in in supporting law enforcement and bringing in uh the Rangers and bringing in uh CID and working real close with with Brizori County. Yeah, um, you know, Bo Stalman, the the sheriff out there, he and I were troopers together. Um the the the DA Tom Selleck, my dad knew very well. Uh the the DA investigator at the time, EJ King, he and I were troopers together. Uh the region chief out there, uh Gerald Brown in Houston um was the uh he and I came up through CID together. We we were captains together. Um the Ranger chief I called and and the Colonel I come in. So it was a lot of resources were made available to uh the to Brizouri County as it should be uh whenever that happened. And and and uh man, I'm so appreciative of everybody. And then to me, I just tell people like, hey, that's that's why you never burn a bridge. I I can pick up the phone and call anybody in the truck and and and get some some support or assistance uh because I've I've never burned bridges in my life, and I think that's very that's a that's an important message uh in and of itself. But um so that that's essentially the story. Um and and it's all honestly, we we just pro last month we had uh there were six people involved, six defendants involved in this murder. Uh the fifth defendant um just uh was found guilty and got uh got a sentence of about sixty years uh last month, and so we've got one more to go, and I think that person's gonna take a plea. Um but the the the the shooter, uh the guy that shot my brother, actually got 40 years because he took the plea. Uh the others that have actually tried to go to a jury trial um have have not have got a lot more than 40 years, uh, which we're grateful for. But we fellow Yeah, they they were Tango? No, no, no. No, none of the none were Tango. They were they were actually blood the ones that actually had confirmed gang affiliations were were blood members. Okay. And so um, but yeah, that's that's the story. Um, you know, and it it's not something that I promoted or initially, not something I I came up with the idea. It was actually a friend of mine who said, Gabe, you got a really fascinating story. If you know, former APD officer who now works for Apple, uh came from California, had some connections in Hollywood, but he's he's the one that says, You got a fascinating story here. Uh he had a friend uh named Frederick Codo, who's a screenwriter for the show, uh The Rookie on ABC. Yeah. Uh we we talked to him, he said, You guys need to fly out here and talk to some execs in Hollywood. So we did, and we talked to them, and they said, Hey, we we want to start this out as a as a podcast. Man, we did they were very fascinated with the entire story and said, Hey, we'd like to do a podcast. We've had some success in uh launching a podcast into a show or or a movie. Um, and so that's that's kind of where we're at right now. Uh with the with the whole project.

Career Advice And Mentorship

SPEAKER_02 39:27

Yeah, and for those that don't know, uh Tango Blast is is arguably uh probably the one of the most largest Latino gang in Texas in their and they're very unique in the sense you mentioned Shock Collar. Uh when I was dealing with them at the jail in Dallas County, I didn't deal with much in East Texas, but they're they're not there's not like a leader for the most part. That's why they're so dangerous. Right. Um but it it's one of the largest, and and they're and and every town's got its different name. You got Austin and Funky Town, Fu Fort Worth, and yeah, it's a really unique and fascinating uh gang to uh investigate and to follow. Um so check out that podcast. We'll put the link down in the description you guys can hear Gabe's story. But Gabe Ortiz to the young trooper or young 18-year-old jailer that's sitting right now listening to this podcast, or driving down the road right now, what advice would you tell him of all the departments you've worked for in this state and all the officers that you've worked for and gotten to know what would be the best direction from you as a director with DPS right now? What would what would be the direction you would tell a young law enforcement officer wanting to pursue their career?

SPEAKER_00 40:35

Just really depends on what they want to do. I mean, uh what I like about Texas DPS is that there's so many different things you can do. I mean, we've got multiple divisions. I mean, you can come in as a trooper, you can be on the Executive Protection Bureau, uh, you know, assign to protect the governor, Lieutenant Governor, or the AG. Uh, you can go into the the tactical marine unit uh if you want to be on boats, you can be on SWAT, you can go in the criminal investigations division, you can go to Texas Rangers, you can go to aircraft and be a pilot. Um, and there's just so many different things within DPS that you can do. Um I've had some, I've talked to some guys and say, hey, I want to go federal. And and uh I'm like, hey, if you want to go federal, that's you know, that's great too. I mean, we we need good guys in in every aspect of law enforcement, every agency. Um so it it really depends on on what that the 18-year-old wants to do with his career. But I can tell you right now that that DPS is is the best agency that I've ever worked for. Uh they've treated me well. I've had some great supervisors and some great leaders, uh, some great mentors. Um, and you know, uh I wouldn't be a region chief right now had, you know, had it not been for some of those guys before me, especially, you know, going back to JC Welch, you know, who said you need to be a trooper. And at the time not knowing what DPS was who they were, what they did. And uh so we need those guys in our lives to kind of give us some direction on on you know what it is we want to pursue. And who was the trooper that you met with at the jail uh JC introduced you to?

SPEAKER_02 41:58

Anthony Bennett. For the trooper out there that's listening, that's the 40-year-old you're going in and you're booking somebody in, be trooper Bennett. If you see a young man that that has an interest, and and listen, let's just call it what it is. We all know what we're talking about. The young jailer that's that's tricked out, that's that's that's wearing the duty belt and imitating everything that a street cop wants to do, don't be that guy and put him down. Don't make fun of him. Go out there and let and say, hey man, can I is there anything I can do to help you out? And pursue and push that kid's career. Because what happened to Gabe is exactly what we should be doing in law enforcement, because I'm telling you right now, the recruitment and retention crisis is real, and we need to do a better job of promoting within and promoting young people to be interested in this in this beloved career field that we all love. And so be the trooper Bennett, be the be so he can be the Gabe Ortiz, I guess is a long short story. Uh I've had some Scott Burns, uh, Trooper Scott Burns, God rest his soul, uh, was a guy that it was very influential, influential in my career. Uh, and he did pass away April 29th, 2008. Mike Horn was also his his fellow trooper, but you know, guys like that that have the heart of gold that want to see others um promote and and be good law enforcement, man, that's it's it's it's something special. It's something special.

SPEAKER_01 43:13

It's it's unique because, you know, looking back even at my career, what I'm doing today I had no idea even existed. Actually, it really didn't. Right. You know. Um and when this opportunity came up over 20 years ago, I was the first thing in my head is like, what is that? What do they do? You know, I've never even heard of them. You know, I just imagine I'm an instructor for them because nobody wanted to teach university and I needed the money. You know, you know, that's how I met TVA, you know. And so coming into something new that I knew nothing about was was terrifying but exciting at the same time and exhausting because every day was different. I would be in a different part of the state, meeting a different Type of cop, you know. All that traveling didn't do good on my stomach because everywhere I ate was something different, you know. Uh but I got to learn a lot a lot about different cuisines, different type of um, you know, I didn't know that Hispanic in South Texas is not the same as the one in New York, the real oral paso. No, it's not, you know. Uh the diet dialect's different, the food is different, you know. Uh so that being said, you know, going through this and my law enforcement career at the very beginning of this, I was I was talking to a lot of cadets. You know, yeah, trying to recruit them, but still trying to guide them in the right direction when I was done. Like, you know, take it from a guy with the experience. Once you get that first job, don't go buy yourself a new car or a boat or a motorcycle, all you're gonna do that, you know. Go buy a house. Buy a house. The first thing you need to do is your first purchase and go from there because real estate, you know, they don't make way more run, you know. Uh whether they listen to that or not, I don't know because I didn't.

Austin Politics And Trooper Morale

SPEAKER_02 45:06

That's how I was talking about talking to Brian Baxter the other day, the uh now the the big dog for Force Science, yeah, former captain with DPS. Yeah, I hate like I told you earlier, Brian and I came up with CID together. He's a good friend of mine. And he was telling me, Mike, he's like, Man, if I had to look back at every study station I was at as a tripper, I wish that'd about property. I wish that about property, every single duty station, and then looked at that you know as an investment later on. John Vance, same thing. I was talking to John two weeks ago, and he's like, man, if I look back and look, I w I wish I would have kept the property I owned as the first duty station. But no, you're pointing to your point. The state's so big, and you look at DPS, you look at all the different aspects of what they have to bring to the table. The pay, you guys, y'all, y'all, y'all's pay continues to stay competitive. And I think that kudos to those that are listening that have any control of that, with the state legislative or or the higher apps in DPS, to be competitive on paper, to keep that retention and recruitment with DPS strong because you you guys need it. But to Mike's point, this is a huge state, and there's so many different levels of you can be in the Texas Hill Country up to the panhandle, down to the valley, uh, even over to East Texas in the Piney Curtain. And it's uh it's a pretty cool, pretty cool agency to be a part of.

TMPA Support And Membership

SPEAKER_00 46:14

So yeah. Yeah. Hey, one of the things, too, I was gonna say, uh, for the listeners who understand the DPS organizational structure, because a lot of people don't. I mean, it's it's a huge organization. We're always changing our names and titles and division names. So back it used to be regional commander, then it went to regional director, and now we are region chiefs. So that that's that change is not that changed last year. Sorry about that. Uh no, no, it's totally fine. But people are, you know, who's listening may get confused. I'm like, yeah, like what is he, what is his position? So that just changed. People still get confused by it. I can still get called director by people, you know, on my staff. So not a big deal, but just for people just to that actually know, um, it it it is a region chief, and and and I got appointed to that position uh in February of 2024. And so uh uh two years and uh and some change. But uh well you're still there, so that's a good yeah, yeah, and yeah, and yeah, and and believe me, at the Capitol, you can get fired pretty quickly. So uh uh McCraw used to tell me that, uh Colonel McCraw used to tell me that quite a bit. And he was like, hey, you know, um Yabe is probably the the region chief that can get quite fired the quickest. Um so um that that that you know he would say that in in open meetings. And um, but hey, something else I wanted to say is is uh I became a big fan of of TMPA uh in in 2021. Um was never a member. Uh, you know, you got all these, you got Cleet, you got TMPA, you got DPSOA and all these organizations and and and all of them do great things for law enforcement. But in in 2021, my uncle passed away. Uh he was a Colorado County uh deputy, and it was one of those presumptions during COVID, it was presumptive that he contracted COVID during a prisoner transport. He ended up dying. And um, you know, my my poor aunt calls me and and he and I were the only law enforcement officers in the family, and she's like, Gabe, can you help me? And you know, I don't know what to do. And this whole process is is so overwhelming for me. And uh I remember uh he would always talk about TMPA. And so I I I didn't know anybody with TMPA at the time, um, but I called and uh within, I mean, within like 24 hours, I had somebody communicating with her, helping her navig navigate that entire process on on what to do because it was considered a line of duty desk. And uh they they helped her with that entire process. Um, you know, they they helped her get plugged into cops and and and the uh you know the the peace officer memorial and and all the different things. And uh it was shortly after that that I that I was like, you know what, man, that because that y'all you guys did so much for my family, I instantly joined TMPA and became a member. That's cool, man.

SPEAKER_02 48:55

And I I'll for the listener out there that doesn't know, uh for the longest time, Dallas County was our largest uh local, right, with TMPA. And uh as of last year, if I'm not mistaken, Mike correct if I'm wrong, DPS is the largest across the state.

SPEAKER_01 49:08

I don't know the exact number, but we're over eleven hundred now. Uh great and it's and it's not from going to their cadet classes and recruiting them or anything like that. This is just word of mouth where they worked somewhere before, came to DPS and said, no, I'm gonna keep my my T M PA affiliation, which is which is what's something we're proud of. And one of the other things important to remember, and not a lot of them have this information yet, but we now have payroll deduction through the state controller's office. Yeah, but you know, we had to have that to meet a criteria of 2,000 state employees as our members before we could move forward with that, or they would allow it. And since we had, you know, game wardens, T ABC, uh the governor's office and stuff like that, we met that 2,000 threshold, and I think it's been about six months now. It has been that we now offer payroll through the state. So it makes it a little easier. It does, it does. His credit cards expire. Yeah, you know, and it's hard.

SPEAKER_02 50:08

But to Gabe, I think to Gabe's point, you know, again, D DPSOA, CLEAT, XSFO, but any any of the statewide associations, I think what separates TMPA into your point is is that uh we we continue to kind of assist people regardless of their membership affiliation. Uh just last week we helped a Blanco County family uh with one of their families, and it wasn't a line duty death, but but uh it was a situation where they needed assistance and they got turned away from another statewide organization, and we stepped in and helped out. But I think uh to Kevin Lawrence's quote do the right thing when nobody's watching, I think that's what matters, and I think that's kind of the definition of integrity, and I think that C NPA continues to kind of do that on a on a statewide level. So thank you for sharing that. It means a lot. Uh it's a testament to your ankle, your your family, and also our respect that we have for all law enforcement families if whatever hard times you're going through. So Mike, you got anything else?

SPEAKER_01 51:00

Yeah, good. It's uh I really appreciate you coming on. Yeah. You know, it's uh it it's I don't want to say it's hard, but when we identify someone with as unique as you and your situation now, your your the position that you hold. Uh I think it's a good motivator and it's a good it influences our younger cops. They need to hear a story, you know, they need to hear some positive stuff. Uh especially the way things go right now, back and forth, and everyone's worried about something or another. You know, I'm worried about diesel prices because I got a auto duly, so I'm worried about that.

Rapid Fire Favorites And Closing CTAs

SPEAKER_02 51:37

Well, I want to know what the hell Gabe drinks in his coffee in the morning because the he does not age at all. Uh he looks about 32 and looks like he's been cut out of a men's health magazine. So whatever the hell you're cut you're drinking in the morning, you need to pass on the recipe because Mike and you are the same age, and I gotta tell you, I'm I'm favorite on the Gabe side for sure. Well, hey, we got three rapid-fire questions we usually end every podcast on. Hope you hadn't studied. Okay. What is your favorite line from a cop movie, your favorite cop movie? What's your favorite cop car? And what's your favorite drink of choice when you're hanging out alone with friends, relaxing off of DPS time? Favorite cop movie was probably training day. Best cop movie or ever. Well, that and third. Was it Third Watch or uh what's the LAPD? But yeah, training day is a good one. I'm with the weapon guy.

SPEAKER_00 52:25

Yeah, that's okay. Yeah, yeah, and and and and and I I don't remember exactly, but I I think it was you want to go to jail or you want to go home. That's right.

SPEAKER_02 52:34

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 52:34

There you go. Yeah, so that's a good one. What was the second one?

SPEAKER_02 52:37

What's your favorite cop car?

SPEAKER_00 52:39

Um man, I really liked the old Mustangs. I knew you were gonna see a man.

SPEAKER_01 52:45

I never got to drive one. I never got to drive my pastor with it. I didn't get to drive one, but I did ride with uh DPS for about a year and a half. Yeah. And yeah, gotta love that car.

SPEAKER_00 52:53

They were good. Five 5.0s. 5.0. They were good looking too. And I I didn't like I didn't have one issued to me, but I I got it had an opportunity to drive one, man, and I I love that car. Didn't DPS for a short stint?

SPEAKER_02 53:04

Did they have like either SS or Z28s? We did. We had bubble. The bubble. Yeah. The bubble. Okay. Yeah. All right. What is your favorite drink of choice when you're hanging out?

SPEAKER_00 53:13

Off the clock. Um, man, I like uh I like some good bourbon. Yeah. Um, and and it's it's hard to say which one's my favorite because there's a lot. Yeah. Uh but yeah, man, just uh, you know, big block ice, sitting uh sipping a little bourbon. There you go. Um, yeah, my four roses good. Uh Buffalo Trace, some plantains, you know, can't go wrong. There you go. Yeah. From Gabe Ortiz himself. Mike, you got anything else?

SPEAKER_02 53:39

Um no. Uh just a reminder of signing up a conference. Yeah. Yeah. Again, July 24th through the 26th, TNPA joint Texas FOP conference. It's going to be there in Dallas at the Hyatt Redesty. Get online, TNPA.org, get those registrations complete. You can also find the hotel link on our landing page through the website, which is going to be handbid.com. That link will be provided there on the TNPA website. It's going to be a good time. You're going to see lots of people, lots of networking. You'll probably see Chief Ortiz come as he's he's attended some conferences before. It's a good networking opportunity for those that are interested in attending. We can't wait to see you and your family. Very family-oriented event. So if you got any kiddos and bring them, we're going to have some different kit events going on as well as fastal events. April 30th, I believe. Let me check my phone for the Texas Peace Office Memorial. Uh G4's is going to have the security covered. Uh, your you and your troops do a great job getting all that stuff lined out. It's going to be April 26th at 7 p.m. It's going to be the Texas Peace Office Memorial. They're on the Capitol Grounds. If you've never been, I strongly, strongly encourage you guys to attend Honor the Fallen and Honor the Families that show up. We'll have some dignitaries there that the families meet with. It's just a very, very somber moment, I think, uh, and a good event for any Texas peace officer to attend. Seeing the uniforms as a family of a survivor, it means a lot to them because that's all they talk about on the ride home. Very seldom does the family remember what the governor said to them or what speeches were said, but they will always remember how many different cops showed up and how many different patches that they can remember. That seems to be always the stories that I continue to hear, Gabe. I'm sure you can I kind of contest to that. But April 26th is going to be on the Capitol Grounds. It's going to be a good time. So anyway, you guys take care. Stay safe. God bless you. And as always, may God bless Texas. We're out.