It was only half an hour before shift change, the time many people begin winding down toward the end of their work day.

But about 1:30 p.m. Jan. 9, communications Officer Jennifer Howard took a 911 call at the Denton County Sheriff’s Office that would have sent most people into a panic. It started as a burglary call and progressed as shots were fired at the man she was trying to help, then led to a kidnapping and a long pursuit before finally ending at a mobile home park half an hour later.

DRC/Al Key

Communications Officer Jennifer Howard works in the dispatch room of the Denton County Sheriff’s Office. For her efforts in responding to a 911 call about a burglary turned kidnapping, she was named Communications Officer of the Year by the Heroes of Denton County organization.

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But Howard has 15 years experience dealing with other people’s emergencies. She calmly orchestrated a response from the Sheriff’s Office that ended with everyone safe and the criminal in custody.

For that work, Howard recently was named Communications Officer of the Year by the Heroes of Denton County organization.

“It is my belief that communications officer Howard played an integral part in making sure our caller stayed out of harm’s way, all the while getting pertinent information that led to the capture of both suspects in this incident,” wrote her sergeant, Jennifer May, in a nomination letter. “This isn’t a call that you get every day and especially in broad daylight.  However, [her] years of experience in handling crisis situations have prepared her for the handling of these type [of] calls and she did an excellent job. Time was of the essence in the handling of the call with multiple components going on simultaneously.  Without [her] quick thinking and response, the situation could have very well ended with loss of life.”

Heroes of Denton County named Argyle Fire District Assistant Chief Jon Donahue as Firefighter of the Year. Flower Mound police Officer Benjamin Lippens was named Law Enforcement Officer of the Year.

And the organization announced a new award category, the Career Achievement Award. The honor went to Highland Village police Cpl. April Roppolo.

Homeowner Robert Denny was the caller that day when Howard took the 911 call. He told her that as he drove onto his property, he met a pickup with a man inside coming out his driveway. His back door had been kicked in, he said, and Howard began to dispatch a deputy to the address northeast of Denton.

But Denny began screaming into the telephone. A man rounded the corner of his house with an armload of Denny’s guns and was shooting at him, the frightened man yelled. Instantly everything changed from a routine burglary call to a man whose life was in imminent danger.

“I told him that if he could, to back the pickup truck out of there,” she said. “He was still inside the truck and already trying to get out of the way.”

The victim stayed on the telephone, describing what he was seeing, as Howard listened and relayed the information to officers in the area. The suspect ran out into the road.

“I was hoping he wasn’t going to stop a car, but he did. I was trying to get anyone there who could help,” she said. “We had a deputy coming into work on that road, and he just happened to pass that vehicle. There were other deputies close by. It just kind of fell together that day.”

Howard works with four computer screens that show maps and other information, as well as a headset. Another operator began helping her on another radio channel, so they could get people to the area as fast as possible. Both were fielding other radio traffic as well, and the 911 call taker was sending other calls to the rest of the dispatchers.

Soon, the sport utility vehicle the suspect commandeered was speeding around the northeast side of the county with several sheriff’s deputies, constables and highway patrol officers in pursuit.

Howard had the first victim seemingly out of danger but there was now a second victim, trapped in the SUV with the suspect. All she knew was that the suspect had a gun, and that wasn’t a good situation.

Communications officers learn, mostly by experience, to control their emotions during such episodes. They learn to remain calm and keep their voices steady and to stay ahead of what the officers involved might need. It isn’t an easy job. It carries a lot of stress.

The stress elevated that day, she said, when the SUV ran directly at a highway patrol trooper trying to stop it by throwing out spikes.

“You get that tunnel vision going when you have something like that going on,” she said. “It was all going so fast. You have an armed person who’s already shot at one man and you don’t know what he’s capable of.”

The SUV with its two occupants finally turned into a mobile home park and got stuck in a yard. Officers surrounded it and opened both front doors, ordering the two men out. The suspect threw the pistol into the victim’s lap, telling the officers that he was the victim.

After a few minutes, the officer sorted out the victim and the suspect and arrested Wallace Judkins. Judkins was convicted of aggravated kidnapping, attempted capital murder and evading police. In May, he received two life sentences, a two-year sentence and a $10,000 fine, the maximum he could have been sentenced to.

The kidnapping victim, Richard Pratt, who was suffering from cancer, died two days before the trial.

“That was so sad,” Howard said. “I wish he could have lived long enough to know.”

The stress of holding lives in your hands while sitting removed from the scene at a console is tough. But over the years, Howard said, officers learn how to deal with it. They leave at the end of the shift knowing they have done the best they could.

“There’s only so much we can do from our side,” she said.

Her husband is a police officer in Oak Point and that helps, she said. She can talk about her day and he understands.

“It went as well as it did that day because of the teamwork that we had in there,” Howard said. “It really helped. I had family in law enforcement when I took this job, and I knew a little about it. But you either like this job or you don’t. There’s no in between.”

“Time was of the essence in the handling of this call, with multiple components occurring simultaneously,” said Assistant Chief Deputy Steve Macsas. “Officer Howard was instrumental in keeping the victim safe, dispatching deputies and giving them pertinent information that led to the capture of the suspect. Thanks to Officer Howard’s professionalism, quick thinking and coolness under pressure, the situation was quickly resolved with no loss of life.”

DONNA FIELDER can be reached at 940-566-6885. Her e-mail address is dfielder@dentonrc.com.