DPS dedicates boat in honor of fallen Trooper Kurt Knapp

From Hill Country Community Journal

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To honor their fallen brother on the 20-year anniversary of his death, a large gathering of current and retired Department of Public Safety personnel, family and friends of Kurt David Knapp attended a ceremony honoring Knapp last week.

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A new SJX Jet Boat to be used by the DPS for shallow water patrol on the Rio Grande River between Eagle Pass and the Rio Grande Valley sector was named in honor of Knapp. His mother and children and his widow, as well as dozens of current DPS officers, retired DPS officers and other law enforcement from around the area were in Floresville for the dedication event.

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Knapp, who grew up in Kerrville, was killed two decades ago while on duty in a two-vehicle crash on Interstate 10 just over the line into Kendall County on May 8, 2004. A section of the interstate around the Comfort exit is denoted by memorial signs in the area where the incident occurred.

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“It is so special after all these years to remember Kurt in this way,” said his mother Jeannie Knapp who flew in from her home in Prescott, Arizona where Kurt was born, and she now lives. Kurt and his mother moved to Kerrville where he went to school and graduated from Tivy in the mid-1990s.

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In high school Knapp was in the pre-law enforcement program offered in the career and technology department and was given the opportunity to ride out with local DPS officers which helped him decide that was the career he wanted to pursue. Further ride-along opportunities with DPS officers entrenched his desire to work for DPS in the future.

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After he graduated, Knapp went on to attend Hill Junior College in Hillsboro, and Southwest Texas State University, where he received his degree in criminal justice. He then applied for the academy and was a member of the graduating class from the DPS Academy in Austin in April 1999.

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Jason Taylor, now a Lt. Col in the Texas Rangers division of DPS, was in Knapp’s class at the academy and shared his thoughts at last week’s ceremony. Taylor described Knapp as “the hardest working, most dedicated law enforcement officer in the state of Texas,” when he completed training and took to the streets.

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“Everyone in the academy liked him, especially the instructors. He was sort of the ‘teachers’ pet’ and this is a joyous day to honor Kurt by naming this vehicle for him,” Taylor said. Taylor said the boat would now be used to prevent crime along the border, and...

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