March 12, 2010Law Enforcement Achievement AwardsMs. Laura Le Blanc, Public InformationTexas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education6330 E Highway 290, Suite 200Austin, Texas 78723-1035Nomination of Sergeant Louis C. Felini, #5883 for the State of Texas Law EnforcementAward for Professional Achievement.The outstanding contribution to law enforcement made by Dallas Police Sergeant LouisFelini, #5883, in the development and implementation of difficult police programs hasexemplified excellence for meritorious service in a duty of great responsibility. Theseprograms not only exhibit a high degree of professional accomplishment, but serve as amodel for other municipalities around the country.Since October of 2007, Sergeant Felini has been assigned as the Deployment supervisorfor the South Central Division, and has been tasked with developing operations that targetcrime throughout the division, including in and around the truck stops, inter-modal yards,motels, rail yards, massive apartment complexes taken over by gangs, and wanted felons.One program in particular, the Prostitute Diversion Initiative (PDI) that targets truck stopprostitutes, has not only received international attention in over 500 news media outlets,but has been recognized by the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS)and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as a long term intelligence strategy for atransient criminal population.The PDI was the first law enforcement led diversion program of its kind in the countrythat brought outside services directly to the streets to provide victims of prostitution acomplete exit from the sex trade and continued recidivism with the criminal justicesystem. The operation is conducted once a month at the truck stops and includes theDallas Police Department, Dallas County Sheriff’s Office, Dallas County DistrictAttorney’s Office, Courts, Dallas County Health Department, Parkland Hospital, theUniversity of North Texas Health Science Center’s (UNTHSC) EpidemiologyDepartment, and over 45 social service and faith based organizations. To date, 374women have been given the opportunity to change their life, over 30 have left the sextrade completely, and some have returned to help act as advocates for the program.For the women that enter the program and relapse, Sergeant Felini has developed twoother first of its kind programs. The first is a “High Risk Potential Victims’ DNADatabase, which he established with the collaboration of UNTHSC’s Forensic Lab andCenter for Human Identification and the Vice Unit at no cost to the Dallas PoliceDepartment. The database will provide a way to identify these women should theybecome a victim of violent crime once they return to the street. The program providesvalue to their life, closure for their family, and a tremendous tool for law enforcement.
The second program is to educate these women on indicators that would identify a truck driver as a person of interest to law enforcement in the event they relapse. The FBI andthe United States Secret Service (USSS) believe that this program may one day help lawenforcement intercede earlier in a serial killer’s criminal career or thwart a domesticevent, in which suspects try to exploit the vulnerabilities of the commercial transportationindustry. The FBI’s ViCAP Unit, Violent Criminal Apprehension Program, has madeSergeant Felini an integral part of their Highway Serial Killer Initiative, and flies himaround the country to speak to law enforcement agencies about his programs. The USSShas also made Sergeant Felini a member of their taskforce under a memorandum of understanding to facilitate intelligence these programs may develop for DHS.In an effort to combat crime at massive apartment complexes in the South CentralDivision that have been inundated with gang activity, Sergeant Felini developedOperation TAtTOO, Tactical Approach to Target Organized Offenders. These operationsinclude the South Central Division, Gang Unit, Operation Disruption, the HelicopterUnit, and 60 deputies assigned to the Dallas County Sheriff’s Fugitive ApprehensionTeams. The operation is an expansion of the Dallas Police Department’s criminal trespassinitiative, and involves executing warrants, searching all vacant apartments, anddeveloping collaborating citizens within the complex. The latter’s purpose is two-fold.First, developed sources could contact the South Central Division and provideinformation on observed criminal activity in and around the complex. Second, theDeployment Unit could contact these same sources to develop leads on offensesoccurring in those neighborhoods. Operation TAtTOO has been such a tremendoussuccess, the South Central Division continues to field calls from apartment complexowners and managers requesting the operation be conducted at their complex. In 2009,Sergeant Felini lead nine of these operations in sectors identified as having the worstproblems. The resources applied to each initiative last for two days per complex for amaximum of two hours each day. The shock and awe impact to the area has been featuredin the Dallas Morning News and WBAP News/Talk 820.Currently, Sergeant Felini’s Deployment Unit is implementing a burglar tracking systemfor the South Central Division to help patrol officers identify suspects on their beats thathave active warrants or who are known to engage in property crimes. This program wasmodeled after the efforts of the Southeast Division in collaboration with Officer Joe Kingand, like everything else Sergeant Felini has done, has expanded the program to assist theInvestigative Unit and the Deployment Unit narrow their focus on specific suspects forthe purpose of surveillance. Over 200 burglars have been identified in our division andthe list continues to grow. Sergeant Felini will be meeting with Fusion and PoliceTechnology to link the information to the patrol officers’ mobile data computers in theirsquad cars. He has also begun collaborating with the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office,Lancaster PD, and DeSoto PD to help identify and apprehend these offenders.These are but a few of the programs Sergeant Felini has developed over the years, whichhave included Operation JUSTICE, Joint Undercover Surveillance Team InterdictingCriminal Enterprise, Operation “Delta Tango” (Decoy Trailer), and Operation RollingShield that involved over 13 local, state, and federal agencies. As a measure of his ability,
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Dallas Police Sgt. Felini award nomination letter
Former Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle wrote this letter nominating Sgt. Louis Felini for a state award that he ultimately received this year.
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