Police deny honor guard for officer's funeral

The family of police Officer Larry Pena was at odds with Police Chief Ken Walker on Friday after Walker refused to order a police honor guard for the officer's funeral.

Pena died Wednesday of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after being informed Tuesday that a warrant had been issued for his arrest. He was charged with aggravated assault after a fight with his wife.

Pena had been on administrative leave since the incident, which occurred shortly after a New Year's Eve party.

''He (Walker) told us that it was not an honorable way to go, and he did not want to give his officers that impression,'' said Pena's sister, Mary Koontz. ''We are very upset with the Police Department.''

After the family was told Pena would not receive a police burial, they asked the Lubbock County Sheriff's Office for help.

''If it hadn't have been for Gilbert Herrera (the Sheriff's Office chaplain), I don't know what the family would have done,'' Koontz said. ''We were all very upset.''

Pena had worked for the Sheriff's Office from 1984 to 1988.

He will not receive a 21-gun salute from the Sheriff's Office, but a color guard, a scaled-down version of the honor guard, will be present. Deputies also will stand at the entrance of the Resthaven chapel and escort the family through services at the funeral home and at the cemetery.

The Sheriff's Office provided the same service to a deputy who shot himself in 1993.

Walker said the Police Department was arranging schedules so officers can attend the funeral, but the department will not provide the same services afforded to an officer killed in the line of duty.

Walker said officers had been taking food to the family.

''There will be a major police presence,'' he said.

Koontz, whose husband is an investigator in the Police Department, said morale among officers is low.

''They think, 'Would they have done that to me?' '' she said. ''All of those years of service have been for nothing.''

Pena was a member of the Police Department for 10 years.

''I can respect the decision Chief Walker has made,'' Lubbock County Sheriff David Gutierrez said Friday.

''I have instructed the Sheriff's Department to participate,'' he said.

''He has given 14 years of his life to law enforcement. My issue is with the four years he worked with us,'' Gutierrez said.

''He gave it all to us. He showed us his desire was to make Lubbock a better place,'' the sheriff said.

''On the other side, they (law officers) see the most tragic things in life. It takes a very unique individual to leave that at work and be a loving husband and good father; to be balanced,'' Gutierrez said.

''My heart goes out to the family.''

Sheriff's Sgt. Deborah Turner worked with Pena at the Sheriff's Office ''He was a very energetic and pleasant person,'' she said. ''He took his job very seriously.

''People have a tendency to put on a facade at times. He was kind of the macho type. You couldn't tell he was having problems. Law enforcement is stressful. Unless you can confide in somebody, it can take a toll.

''When you are dealing with only ugliness, it's hard to see the good. It really works on your whole attitude,'' she said.

At the time of Pena's death, neither the Sheriff's Office nor the Police Department had written policies about circumstances that merit an honor guard.

Gutierrez said he is developing one.

Services for Pena will be at 2 p.m. today at Abbey Chapel of Resthaven Funeral Home. Graveside services will follow at Resthaven Memorial Park.