My name is Ben Donahoe, I started my law enforcement career in April, 1979 when I entered the San Antonio Police Training Academy, part of 79-Alpha class. After graduating from the academy I spent several years on patrol before being selected to SWAT, Bravo Team. There, I was part of a very elite and dedicated group of officers who trained hard and worked even harder. As my career continued, I eventually moved up to investigations where I was assigned to the Vice Squad. During my tenure in Vice, I was responsible for many arrest, from prostitution, narcotics violation to solving several murder cases while working undercover. I ended my career with the San Antonio Police Department in 2005, as the lead instructor at the San Antonio Police Training Academy, where I trained over 500 new cadets and thousands of sworn officers. I was also recognized by the F.B.I., San Antonio office, for training their agents in evasive tactical driving.
After my retirement, I pursued a career in teaching in the public school system, where I taught criminal justice courses at the high school level; 9th grade through 12th. During my 12 twelve year teaching career, I had over 1500 students go through my classes, with many of them pursuing their own law enforcement careers now. In the summer of 2006 I retired from teaching to pursue my ultimate dream of becoming Chief of Police in my home town of La Vernia, Texas. I am currently employed with the La Vernia Police Department in hopes of being selected as the next Chief of Police. The course work that I selected to be displayed for viewing was work that I felt epitomizes what a true law enforcement leader is, from adapting to 21st Century Policing to working in collaboration with other law enforcement agencies. Another part of my coursework that I felt was informative and critical to becoming a law enforcement leader in the 21st Century was; Community Policing. As law enforcement leaders we must be able to work with our community and community leaders to be able to achieve the goals of safe neighborhoods, free from crime.