Three new officers join ECPD force
By BRENDA SOMMER bsommer@leader-news.com

B.J. NOVAK

Three new officers have joined the force and are now patrolling the streets for the El Campo Police Department.

Stephen Jimenez, Brian "B.J." Novak and Ryan Schaer all became officers and started their training this spring. They spent time learning all the various aspects of the department, spending time with detectives, dispatchers and then observing by riding along with patrol officers.

Novak, 21, is originally from Ganado, the son of Joe and Marcy Novak of that town.

"I always thought police work was something I might want to go to," said the recent Victoria Police Academy graduate. "I figured El Campo was a good-sized town and the pay is pretty good here."

Boling native Jimenez, 27, is the son of Seferino and Terry Jimenez, and comes to the department after two-anda half years as a jailer at the Wharton County Jail.

Jimenez attended the Gus George Law Enforcement Academy in Rosenberg while working at the sheriff's department.

"There's good people over here, so that's pretty much why I came here," he said. "It's a great department to work for."

STEPHEN JIMINEZ

Officer Ryan Schaer, 24, is originally from Blessing, the son of Millie and Phil Schaer. He worked at the Ellis Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison in Huntsville, then attended the Victoria Police Academy.

"I wanted to be somewhere around here, and heard the department in El Campo was really good," he said.

One of the three officer positions filled by Jiminez, Novak and Schaer was created when Officer Tyler Davis left the department last year. The other two officer positions are new, included in this year's budget.

RYAN SCHAER