A routine inspection for illegal contraband turned into a tragedy for the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) last month. On Monday, October 4th, DEA Supervisory Agent Michael Garbo (pictured) and another agent were conducting a routine drug inspection at the Amtrak Station in Tucson, AZ. The agents detained a man and were escorting him from the train when another subject opened fire on the agents. Gunfire was exchanged and when the smoke cleared Agent Garbo and the subject who shot him were both dead. Later it was discovered the shooting was over an attempt to smuggle illegal marijuana on the train. Agent Garbo served 16 years with the DEA and prior to that was an officer with the Metro Nashville PD in Tennessee. The 27-year-veteran is survived by his wife and daughter. Say a prayer for the Garbo family and the Tucson DEA office.
On October 4th, I was at the Mound View PD in the greater Minneapolis, MN area for a Winning a Gunfight seminar. Chief Nate Harder (of Protector’s Peak) hosted the seminar at his PD. While the seminar was low in numbers, it was a huge success! Every officer there had a story, and the seminar was well received and very appreciated. Each officer received a copy of Winning a Gunfight along with six hours of continuing education credits. In addition, a copy of the book was provided to a local chaplain to give to each member of the Mound View PD. Pray for continued opportunities for seminars. Next week I’ll be one of the speakers at the Blue Life Support Seminar in Idaho Falls. As of the end of October, we had well over 200 officers register from five different states (Idaho, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, and Nevada).
In late October, my wife Sherry and I traveled to Virginia to the No Greater Love Foundation’s “Farm” where we met with both retired and active officers from Virginia, California, and North Carolina. While we had a time of fellowship and ministry, we also planned strategies of how we can better serve LEOs as we go into 2022. Keep Larry and Susie Ledford in prayer as they head up the NGLF.
LECI
On October 12th we started another Community Chaplain Academy. While the class is small, we have a group of highly talented folks, and we look forward with great anticipation to them joining the ranks of our chaplains! Calls for chaplain assistance is picking up and our ministry opportunities are expanding. We recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Rexburg PD and the Madison County SO. We look forward to providing chaplains to the college town and county located about 25 minutes north of Idaho Falls.
Last month LECI was invited to both attend and train at a Mental Health symposium in Rigby. We presented to the faith leaders and were able attend other presentations. Of course, we were able to network with several mental health care providers and a group of chaplains from Bonner County, in Idaho’s panhandle. One group we connected with is Courageous Survival. Jacki Briggs founded the non-profit to connect LEOs and military veterans with the mental and spiritual help they need to combat Post Traumatic Stress Injury.
Cop Church
Cities Cop Church in Minneapolis is up and rolling! Their first service was a great success with about 140 in attendance. Pastor Glenn Herschberger (retired LEO) gave great message, and the music worship team did a fantastic job! No doubt, LEOs in the Minneapolis area will find Cities Cop Church a safe place to worship and minister. Gary Austin (station manager for TheRev.FM) and I were privileged to attend and provide copies of Winning a Gunfight to officers that attended. We handed out several books, but still had a few left over and gave 18 copies to the Miles City, MT PD on our way home. A special thanks to Watersprings Church and Cop Church Idaho Falls for sponsoring our trip and providing the books!
While in Minneapolis, we recorded a couple shows for our radio program, Dog Watch. You can catch Dog Watch on TheRev.FM. The show airs Saturday and Sunday mornings at 2 am. Archives of the shows are available to listen to anytime, click here: TheRev.FM.Pray for your police.
