WACO, Texas — Sgt. Larry Martinez with the Waco ISD Police Department once was a student within Waco ISD and attended Lake Air Montessori School nearly 20 years ago.
He now is back professionally protecting the younger generation day-in and day-out.
He hopes to make a positive influence on students every day as police officers inspired him when he was their age.
BROADCAST SCRIPT:
It may seem like no big deal but when Officer Larry Martinez walks into this classroom, it's pure nostalgia.
“I try to come back here as often as I can to kind of relive that experience,” Martinez said.
Attending Lake Air Montessori School nearly 20 years ago, now a Waco ISD Police Sergeant, Larry is living his dream at a place where his love for law enforcement began.
“At the time, Waco ISD had a police department, so I saw the officers come in every now and then, and that was a pretty cool concept to see, seeing a police officer on campus," Martinez said.
'At that time it was kind of strange, but definitely an exciting experience, so being back here in the role that I’m in now is pretty exciting. You get to look at the kid’s face just like I saw the police officers then, now."
Wanting to be a positive influence to this younger generation, and not make interacting with officers so scary.
“Being that friendly face is what we want to be to these students," Martinez said.
"We don’t want them to think of police officers as bad guys, so, being able to be here and interact with them and smile with them, it’s really a positive influence that they have in their life. We try to influence that as much as we can."
A friendly and familiar face roaming the halls, as his sister teaches here too.
“Knowing that he’s my brother and he’s the officer here makes me feel even more safe because he cares about the kids and our safety that’s number one,” said Martinez’s sister, Mrs. Fleming.
Hoping to serve as an inspiration for the students he sees every day.
“Those police officers made a huge difference in my life I want to be that difference in their life where they can say 'Hey, I can be a police officer, I can go out there and change the world in this city or any other city they decide to go work in' — so if I can do that, I know that I have succeeded in this job," Martinez said.
