HOUSTON – A year ago, Harris County deputy Sandeep Dhaliwal was killed in the line of duty.
The community he served vowed never to forget the beloved officer. Many showed up for a processional near his memorial on Sunday, where they remembered his life and honored his legacy. People from all backgrounds came to pay tribute to a man who decided his life to serving others.
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“He’s my hero but when I look at my family and my house he left a very big empty space which nobody can fill,” said Dhaliwal’s sister, Herpreet Rair. "For him everyone is human. There’s no religion. Human is human. We don’t look the same. We are the same,”
Robert Munoz, a close family friend, said he thinks about Dhaliwal everyday.
“It’s been really sad." he said. "It’s so beautiful that I’m able to go into my house everyday and I take a moment and look at his picture, his poster and I pray for him and I pray for Mr. Dhaliwal and his family.”
Francesca Garcia lives in the northwest Harris County neighborhood where Dhaliwal shot and killed during a routine traffic stop.
“Deputy Dhaliwal has a family. But we too were his family when he worked for us and he worked seven days a week for our district,” she said. “I’ve realized we walked next to an angel and we didn’t know it.”
Dhaliwal is remembered as a good man, a loving husband and a father of three.
“We continue to grieve his loss and we remember him as well. We made a pledge back then that he would never be forgotten and we hope to continue to honor that pledge,” said Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez.
Dhaliwal opened the doors for so many. In 2005, he made history as the first Texas law enforcement officer to be allowed to wear the article of his Sikh faith including a turban and beard, while in uniform.