Remembering Officer Ken Copeland

Many members of the community, especially the local law enforcement community, remember San Marcos Police Officer Ken Copeland, who became the first officer to die in the line of duty in San Marcos last December. Now, San Marcos has yet another way to remember the fallen officer — a bronze bust of Copeland that the Hays County Sheriff’s Office presented to the San Marcos Police Department on Wednesday.

At a ceremony at the Hays County Justice Center, Hays County Sheriff Gary Cutler spoke about Copeland’s service and sacrifice and his legacy of warm memories in the community.

“One year, eight days ago, just a few miles east of here, Officer Ken Copeland lost his life in the line of duty,” Cutler said, noting that Copeland was one of 45 officers killed in the line of duty nationwide and one of six in Texas in 2017.

“I did not know Ken Copeland,” Cutler continued. “I never had a chance to shake his hand. But within hours, days, after it happened, I felt like I knew him very well.”

Artists Terry and Cindy Burleson remove the covering of the statue during the public unveiling.

The outpouring of sympathy and fond memories and stories about Copeland that followed his death last winter has continued as the community has begun to heal, Cutler said. Just two hours before the ceremony, the sheriff said, he met two people who knew Copeland — one of whom said he was Copeland’s college roommate.

“The Hays County Sheriff’s Office wanted to do something special to honor him,” Cutler said. He met a couple from northwest Austin named Cindy and Terry Burleson who make bronze sculptures and asked if they would create the bust.

“These people have talent and skill I’m sure none of us in this room have,” Cutler said.

The Burlesons unveiled the bust of Copeland, which Cutler said is a gift from the sheriff’s department to SMPD.

San Marcos Police Chief Chase Stapp spoke of his history with the Hays County Sheriff’s Office, which began with the start of his law enforcement career and continued after he moved to SMPD. He called the sheriff’s office SMPD’s “strongest partner in the area” and said that with the presentation of the statue, he felt like that partnership was even stronger.

“I can’t say thank you enough to Sheriff Cutler and his staff for this amazing gift,” he said.

James Bryant applauds the final speech before the moment of prayer to end the ceremony as Chief Deputy Jamie Page looks toward the camera.

The bust will be on display in the SMPD headquarters lobby, Stapp said, and members of the public are welcome to stop in “any time you want to hang out and spend some time with Ken and remember what he meant to our community.”

Cutler said that he imagines future generations of SMPD officers walking into the lobby and seeing the bust and asking, “Who was Ken Copeland?”

“And,” he said, “I’m sure they’ll learn as quickly as I did who Ken Copeland was.”