As various law enforcement organizations continue to reach out to support the Texas Tech Police Department and mourn the death of Tech Police Officer Floyd East Jr., several organizations continue to reflect on the collaborative effort seen on the evening of Monday, Oct. 9.

The unity exemplified in this team effort to find Daniels is only the first glimpse at the law-enforcement community’s oneness.

“We’ve got friends that work for Tech PD and Lubbock PD,” Patrol Lieutenant Jeremy Ross at the Levelland Sheriff’s Office said. "We’re just a big family.”

Corporal Steven LeSueur at the Odessa Police Department said several of its officers graduated from Tech, so it has strong ties to Tech and the Lubbock community.

The Odessa Police Department has many officers who either went to Tech themselves or have family members who went to Tech, LeSueur said. Some of its officers are even from the Lubbock area.

“Even though we’re two hours away, couple hours away,” LeSueur said, “it still feels like we’re kind of a part of this, if that makes sense, I mean, because there’s a lot of connections.”

LeSueur said the Odessa Police Honor Guard will attend East’s funeral and ask community members to turn their porch lights blue for dead officers.

Mitchell Fish, president of the Lubbock Professional Police Association, said the best thing the various agencies involved with Fish’s association can do for East and his family is conduct an in-depth investigation.

“The members of the Lubbock Professional Police Association responded to what is one of our nightmares,” Fish said. “Not only did we have an officer down, but on a campus with 40,000 students, and so, you have to have the ability to take that fear and that anxiety and put it aside and respond and do your job.”

He said the community response after the death of East has been remarkable. In the 24-hour period after an event such as this, it is critical that people join together to show both respect and support.

The way West Texas has united to support East’s wife and two daughters speaks volumes about the respect this community has for its law enforcement officers, he said.

“Law enforcement is not just a one-faceted thing,” Fish said. “It’s not just this one personnel. It’s the community in law enforcement and a partnership that is effective.”

He said the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and the Texas Department of Public Safety were some of the many groups that reached out to help Tech PD.

Ultimately, East did the very thing that police officers swear an oath to do, Fish said. East protected the students he was entrusted with, and he defended his community.

“I think the most important thing is that we go ahead and do business as usual; keep everything running, make sure that we don’t skip a beat,” Brandon Smith, vice president of the Lubbock Professional Police Department, said.

Smith said he believes East would want them to carry on and continue the good work he started.

One of the most important parts of a police force is the patrol division, Fish said. He was impressed with how thoroughly and quickly the Tech PD Patrol Division responded to the situation, exemplifying the kind of police work most officers strive to do.

“I think we try to remember what Officer East stood for, which (was) the best of us, not the worst of us,” Fish said. “Don’t let his death define his life.”