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The newest officers with the Port Arthur Interdependent School District Police Department are ready to protect the students and staff and build relationships with the community.

The three new hires, which include the first two female officers for the district police department, each have law enforcement backgrounds and look forward to their new roles.

They are officers Rondaysha Thomas, Tangynekeia Williams and Dalvin Warrick.

Background

Warrick is a Port Arthur native and a 2019 graduate of Memorial High School. He previously worked in corrections for about eight months.

He is a 2023 graduate of Lamar Institute of Technology Police Academy.

Thomas is a 2013 graduate of Central High school that spent seven years in corrections and is also a 2024 police academy graduate.

Williams is also a Central High School graduate. She spent 10 years in the U.S. Navy then joined the Texas Department of Criminal Justice working in corrections for 15 years.

She switched gears and graduated from the police academy in Galveston in January.

The officers have similar reasons for joining the PAISD PD – to ensure the safety of the students and staff and be a positive influence in their lives.

“I want the kids to understand it doesn’t matter where you come from, you can be better than that,” Thomas said. “I wanted to be better than what I saw growing up.”

Williams is the mother of twins, Destiny and Danny, and wants to see her children look up to her.

“To see what I went through, to drive back and forth from Beaumont to Galveston. That was determination that I had. That’s what I want to instill in my kids, that you can do whatever you want to do,” Williams said.

She waited late to join the police because she was at TDCJ for so many years.

“Sometimes you get so complacent. A lot of people don’t like change so I really stepped out in faith with this one,” she said.

Williams said the reason she joined the police is because she knew she wanted to serve and protect the community and also believes in making a positive impact on people’s lives.

Warrick is a proud Port Arthur native who has always loved helping others. His first law enforcement job was working in the jail but this wasn’t what he really wanted; he wanted for his law enforcement career, he wanted to protect others, he said, which led him to PAISD PD.

PAISD’s Police Department was reestablished in 2019 and Howard Sylve III came on board as chief in 2023. At that time there were four officers and as of this week there are 12, and he’s interviewing for more positions in order to cover 9 to10 more schools.

Port Arthur Police Department also assists the PAISD department in covering the schools as part of a state mandate.

The district also approved having school marshals employed, he added.

Sylve described the roles of the district’s police officers.

“Their primary duty is to make sure that the students, staff, faculty, and visitors remain safe while they’re on campus,” Sylve said.

Sylve has plans for something different beginning with the new school year. All of the officers will be issued ticket books and in July will undergo radar training. You will be able to see them in school zones.

In addition, the officers will be assigned to a campus but can be moved during the year. While at their respective campus they can build a rapport with students and staff.

“The most rewarding thing in this profession, especially when you work in a school district or college setting, is if you can make an impact on someone’s life and later down the line they come back and they’ll tell you that,” the chief said.

Sylve has 22 years of experience in law enforcement. He spent 13 years in the U.S. Army and served overseas during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

He started the Wiley College Police Department in Marshall, Texas and through the years has served in various roles in law enforcement at different agencies.

The three new officers were sworn in during Thursday night’s school board meeting; something Sylve wanted to do to introduce the officers to the board and community.

PAISD Superintendent Dr. Mark Portrie said, as an educational facility, it took a whole to grow accustomed to having police officers in the schools.

The safety of every child and staff in the district is paramount, he said. He wonders upon waking up if this “is the day because this happens so much across the United States.”

“And we pray every day, all day that nothing happens to the staff and the students of this district,” Porterie said alluding to school shootings. “We are entrusting you to protect our students and our staff and each other and that is one of the biggest jobs you will ever have to encounter. When someone hurts a child that brings everything to a different level. So thank you for your work. Thank you for your dedication and we hope and we pray that we can move forward.”