MIDLAND, Texas — The Midland County Sheriff's Office deals with a lot of dangerous situations, and today they received a donation that will help protect them.
"The support of the community, they want to see law enforcement protected, and a lot of different oil companies and businesses want to reach out and help, and one of the ways they can help is to defer the cost of bulletproof vests for these men and women that do what they do to protect us," said Terry Johnson, Midland County Judge.
In a meeting Monday, the Midland County Commissioners Court approved a $15,000 donation from a local company in the oil and gas business, Plains Marketing, L.P.
"A lot of it's unsolicited, we have to approve it in court, but I'm real proud of people and what they do to step up and protect our sheriff's department," said Johnson.
This isn't the first time they've seen the community come through for law enforcement. In fact, many local citizens and companies have used their resources to help out the community.
"It's just a great community, were in a great area with a great economy," said Johnson. "We've got the oil industry, we've got a lot of folks that do well here, and they want to see the services that are provided to them, they want to see those services taken care of and promoted and supported, and they want to step up and they do that with their money. It's a great place, Midland is a great place to live."
The county commissioners oversee budgeting for the sheriff's office, so this donation will allow the sheriff's office to use their budget on things they need.
"This allows them, when this money is donated for particular things like bulletproof vests, this allows them to use budgeted funds in other areas," said Johnson.
The vests specifically will do their job in keeping officers a little safer.
"It's just a great way for a community to say we support you, and we want to see you get home safe at night," said Johnson.