When Pflugerville Police Chief Charles Hooker started his career with the department in May , it included just one other officer, the man who was the chief at the time. The two shared a typewriter, a telephone and two filing cabinets in their small office. Hooker graduated from the Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas and worked as an officer in Cedar Park for three years before coming to Pflugerville.
As chief, Hooker's primary duty includes running the operations side of the department. He also acts as the city emergency management coordinator and still patrols the streets, as do all officers in the department.
My brother was an Austin Police Department officer for a number of years. I got an opportunity to ride around the city of Austin with him, and I got the bug. At that time I think it was the camaraderie that I saw with him and his shift, working the streets of Austin.
It seemed like a good occupation. How quiet it was. I came from Cedar Park where there were six country-and-western bars When I came to Pflugerville patrolling the streets It was awfully quiet [and] more than a little boring on more than one occasion. I think the first homicide that we had here in Pflugerville that I worked.
It was a cab driver who was shot and killed by an individual who had come from a party in Austin and then taken a cab out here. Shot and killed the cab driver. Fortunately, we were able to locate that suspect and he was ultimately convicted and sent to prison.
