Housing and community | continued
East Parker County and the county offers numerous
varieties of churches that span many different denominations
and nondenominational churches. Whatever church you
attend, you will be able to easily find a new church home
here in East Parker County.
PUBLIC SAFETY
East Parker County is served by several different police
departments including Hudson Oaks, Willow Park and
the Aledo ISD patrol officers. All other areas depend on
the professional deputies from the Parker County Sheriff’s
Office under the direction of Sheriff Russ Authier. Sheriff
Authier was appointed to the office after the passing of
Sheriff Larry Fowler, who guided the PSCO from 2004 to
2021. Sheriff Authier has continued to hold the office to the
same level of professionalism that Parker County residents
have come to expect.
The sheriff works closely with the Crime Stoppers board
of directors to follow up on tips given by citizens as well
as assisting with National Night Out activities throughout
the county, usually in October. His staff also has a series
of public education programs aimed at pre-kindergarten
children through college age adults. These programs teach
skills such as calling 911, anti-bullying messages, bike safety,
stranger danger, and personal safety skills.
Most recently, the sheriff’s office introduced two new
initiatives – the Tip411 alert system that allows citizens to
submit anonymously submit tips to PSCO investigators, and
a sticker system that alerts law enforcement when a special
needs individual might be inside a vehicle or residence.
The sheriff’s office is made up of several different divisions
including everything from school resource officers to animal
control as well as the FAST or Fugitive Apprehension Strike
Team, which has the responsibility of apprehending wanted
individuals.
FIRE PROTECTION
Emergency Service Districts (ESDs) are the primary
source of fire protection for many of the towns and
unincorporated areas of East Parker County. The ESDs are
funded by their own property taxes. Parker County ESD
1 is a dynamic paid/volunteer combination organization
providing Fire Suppression/Prevention/Rescue, operating
out of 7 stations protecting more than 50,000 residents
in four incorporated cities and across 265 square miles of
unincorporated Parker County, including the communities
of Aledo, Springtown, Peaster, LaJunta, Silver Creek, and the
Annettas. ESD 1 responds to over 3300 calls annually while
providing automatic/mutual aid across Parker County and
portions of Tarrant, Wise, and Johnson Counties.
84 EAST PARKER COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE | RELOCATION & BUSINESS GUIDE 2022 - 2023