Megan Navarro
HAYS COUNTY — As a former law enforcement wife, Buda Police Citizens Academy Alumni Association (BPCAAA) president Cynthia Wilson knows the dedication that it takes for the men and women behind the badge to serve their respective communities every single day. Because of this, she has worked with the organization to aid in building a support system for officers.
BPCAAA has been active for eight years and provides a bridge between the agency and local community. The organization — entirely made up of volunteers — does this by supporting the endeavors of the Buda Police Department, offering a community touch through raising money for school supplies, educating different organizations about the agency and more.
“We present the officers with things that are of value to them, like last year, we gave them all Guardian Angel devices that are a safety device for them to wear on their vests and it basically has the same kind of LED lighting that their cars have, so they're more visible at night when they're doing a traffic stop,” the association president explained. “Those devices are lifesaving and we had raised enough funds and had enough community touch to provide one for all 29 of them.”
A large component of the association’s mission is education, especially through the 12-week Citizens Police Academy that was established to provide the public with the opportunity to learn more about the BPD and develop a working knowledge of its day-to-day functions and operations.
Wilson noted that they have also assisted BPD in hosting recent community classes about active shooters, as well as one called Stop the Bleed — for which they also partnered with the fire department — that focuses on trauma care in the field.
The valued relationship between law enforcement and the community also extends to other parts of Hays County, with the Kyle Law Enforcement Association (KLEA), which has been in effect for more than 10 years under its current name.
“Our main focus is centered on cultivating relationships between our officers and the community that we serve. Our main goal is to pretty much nurture a positive relationship and make sure that the community knows who we are and we feel that the familiarity with us tends to put the public at ease,” said Mark Spencer, KLEA president.
KLEA hosts several events throughout the year, including the Blue Santa program, which helps provide Christmas presents and food boxes for children and families — an effort BCPAAA also participates in— and Shotgun for Charity Golf Tournament.
Spencer added that KLEA also acts as an advocate when it comes to fair wages and benefits, as well as works with various organizations to ensure the safety of officers when they are off-duty to protect their families and themselves in a time where many have been doxxed, which is when private, personal information is revealed.
“Healthy officers [and] fulfilled officers are the ones that provide the highest level of service to the public,” Spencer said.
Officers often spend their time on duty working and it can be difficult to have meaningful connections with the community, but KLEA has been working for the last several years to change that, especially with the youth, Spencer said.
“We believe it's very important for us to get in the community, have our positive interactions, be positive role models [and] a positive adult figure in the community,” he explained. “We believe it sets our youth up for success and from time to time, we can help out families that are in need and make sure they have more of a personal connection with their police department because more often than not, we interact with the public on the worst possible day. So, this is kind of an opportunity for us to interact with them in a more positive manner, rather than when they're in the middle of a crisis.”
Being able to bridge the relationship between law enforcement and the community is important because a lot of times, there is some misunderstanding on what the badge represents, Wilson added.
“Buda is a pretty nice little tight-knit community, so we don't have a lot of dissension, but on the national level, there is. I believe this is a great tool to help the police department community police to engage people,” she said, adding that her neighborhood has had a recent issue of kids riding electric bikes in drainage areas, raising safety concerns, but she stepped forward to encourage them to contact BPD for help.
Currently, BPCAAA is actively seeking new membership to increase from its current 12 in order to continue “protecting our protectors,” Wilson said. In addition, she said that the association would also like to see some other goals come to fruition: a kids camp and explorer program; continuing education scholarships for officers; and expanding the school supply drive to a higher level in Buda.
As for KLEA, Spencer shared that one of the goals for this year is to be more available to the community as an open resource, so they have begun the process of contacting more of the local homeowners associations.
The Buda Citizens Police Academy will start March 29, 2027, and run through June 18, 2027, on Thursday nights from 6:30-9 p.m. Class is limited to 20 students, so those interested should submit their application when open enrollment begins Wednesday, Jan. 6, at www.budatx.gov/839/Citizens-Police-Academy-2027.
Additionally, there is a 10-week Citizens Police Academy in Kyle, which is separate from KLEA, but does help the association with its events. Information can be found at bit.ly/4xBvXmo.
To learn more about the various associations, and find out how to support their causes, visit www.budapolicefoundation.org and www.kylelea.org.
