Sgt. Bob Decker
HPD

Sgt. Bob Decker walks the fine line of success at work, at home and in his community.

Sgt. Bob Decker walks the fine line of success at work, at home and in his community.

Sgt. Decker, who was HPD’s Northeast supervisor of the year in 1995, joined Houston's police force two decades ago and has since adopted this great city as his home. In his assignment to the Northeast Crime Analysis Unit, his team developed STAATS, a computer application that identifies crime patterns, predicts future crime, and links unsolved crimes to suspects. He and his staff wrote the program, trained the command staff to use it and installed it in every station.

Sgt. Decker has three grown daughters and remains very close to them. He is also a devoted grandfather of five who love him dearly.

And there are countless other children who also love Sgt. Decker, because he has filled a void in their lives. During his off time, Sgt. Decker donates money and time to multiple orphanages in Mexico, seeing that the children have healthy meals, clean clothes and safe, comfortable places to live. His personal mission began after he saw children living in cardboard houses at the Casa Hogar del Nino or House of God orphanage in Cuidad Acuna, Mexico. The thinly supplied pantry, three-to-a-bunk sleeping arrangements and two moldy showers for 24 children disturbed him. His acts of kindness have convinced Antonio and Hermilinda Ramirez, who tirelessly run the orphanage that an angel wandered in that day.

The number of orphanages he visits and assists grows each year, and when he is not on a mission of mercy in Mexico, he is active at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Houston.

For his excellent work as an HPD sergeant, and his unselfish desire to put food on the table and improve living conditions for orphans, we present Sgt. Bob Decker with the Bravo Award.