McNamara gets nod of the Waco Police in Sheriff's race

Waco – Local cop shop observers brought their ears straight up and forward at the news around the campfire Monday evening when the Waco Police Association joined Parnell's posse.

In the fight for law and order, they have decided they want to ride with ex-Deputy U.S. Marshal Parnell McNamara, a candidate for McLennan County Sheriff.

An organization affiliated with the Combined Law Enforcement Association of Texas and founded in 1947, the WPA has a membership of about 250 professional police officers.

In their choice, the local g'en d'armes of Six Shooter Junction have taken a tack to the diametric opposite heading of the certified officers of the Sheriff's Department, who backed Chief Deputy Randy Plemons when he announced his candidacy to replace Sheriff Larry Lynch a couple of moons in the past.

Mr. McNamara and his sidekick Matt Cawthon, an ex-Texas Ranger who now rides for the Marshal's Serive Fugitive Warrant Squad, were in attendance in McLennan County Commissioners' Court Tuesday morning. They were listening carefully to every word that was said.

In a recent interview, Mr. McNamara revealed that he learned the valuable lesson of listening very carefully from his father, T.P. McNamara, Sr., who served as the U.S. Marshal for the Western District of Texas.

"He always said he could go to the barber shop and just listen and come up with all kinds of information. He said, 'I can learn more just sitting in the barber's chair and listening with my mouth shut than I can any other way.'"

They were paying very close attention to the progress report from CEC executives who told the Court that the Federal Bureau of Prisons has expanded their rating of McLennan County Corrections facilities from a capacity of 100 federal prisoners to that of between 500 to 600.

They also listened carefully to Dr. John Wells and representatives of the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation explain to the Court why they need to evaluate inmates with histories of psychiatric problems.

Said County Judge Jim Lewis, “They're just dumping them in the County Jail.” Dr. Wells and his colleague from MHMR explained that housing a mentally ill inmate costs 8 times more than what it costs to keep a normal inmate in custody.