Texas Game Warden named the 2021 Southern Region Officer of the Year
Texas Game Warden Hani Raja Ataya, of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD), has been named the Southern Region Officer of the Year for 2021.
Warden Ataya is stationed in Orange County, Texas, and regularly patrols all of its major waterbodies for recreational water safety enforcement. As a coastal warden, he has the added responsibility of patrolling the coastal marshes, bays, and the Gulf of Mexico for recreational and commercial fishing, shrimping, and crabbing activity throughout the year, which is much more demanding than traditionally seasonal recreational boating safety enforcement.
Contrary to most of his peers who would prefer to patrol by land on most days, Warden Ataya’s favorite part of being a Texas Game Warden is the time he spends patrolling on the water. He is very experienced and enjoys operating every patrol platform in the district, including the 29’ PV Pauling twin-outboard offshore boat, center console Majek and TranSport bay boats, airboats, and more.
Warden Ataya’s patrol efforts for boating safety this year led Region 4, and most of the state, with an impressive 692 boat patrol hours. During those patrols he issued 129 written warnings and 72 citations explicitly for water safety violations, along with giving countless verbal warnings and advice about being safe on the water.
Warden Ataya has also assisted new members of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department Marine Unit to become familiar with the operation of that agency’s 29’ Safe boat and to begin planning a Marine Safety Enforcement Officer (MSEO) course to get all of their new officers certified.
In addition to these enforcement efforts, Warden Ataya works hard to educate the community on safe boating practices. Warden Ataya’s boating safety education efforts, like most others, were severely impacted by COVID-19 lockdowns and social distancing guidelines that prevented traditional school programs. However, he was able to provide a water safety program to the Vidor High School and Vidor Middle School shortly before the COVID-19 lockdowns began.
Furthermore, Warden Ataya presented a yearly program at a Bridge City, Texas City Council meeting to discuss new water safety laws and reminders about water safety, life jackets, and the dangers of boating while intoxicated (BWI).
Warden Ataya has been involved in many search and rescue missions throughout the year, ranging from natural disasters to recreational boaters in distress. In September 2019, Orange County was struck by Tropical Storm Imelda which caused major flooding. Warden Ataya ferried multiple people to safety along IH-10 in Vidor in a flat bottom boat, and then later went through flooded neighborhoods in an airboat and offered stranded residents, many with special needs, a ride to higher ground. Warden Ataya was instrumental in relaying missions from the Orange County Emergency Operations Center (EOC) to one of five airboat teams to check on citizens who had called in for assistance or had family members that were unable to reach them.
Additionally, Warden Ataya has become one of the most talented BWI investigators in the state. He spent the past couple of years seeking out training, asking for advice, and gaining valuable experience in all phases of the BWI investigation process including detection, blood warrant application, report writing, and successful prosecution. This year alone he attended the Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (ARIDE) and Breath Test Operator courses.
Warden Ataya is a leader in the Beaumont District in BWI enforcement and routinely helps his partners by providing positive motivation, experience, and guidance to other less experienced wardens. This year he has served as a resource for his partners in the Beaumont District, as well as other districts within the region, to help with the completion of their American Law Reports (ALR) and other paperwork on BWI. Warden Ataya assisted with 11 BWI arrests this calendar year, seven of which he arrested and filed himself. The other four BWIs were filed by wardens who were riding along with Warden Ataya, and two of those cases were those respective Game Warden’s first BWI cases to investigate.
Warden Ataya’s work ethic, thirst for knowledge, and sheer determination have led him to become an extremely successful and effective Texas Game Warden. He continues to be a mentor and friend to all of his fellow officers and is well-respected by the recreational boating community. Congratulations, Warden Hani Raja Ataya!
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First presented in 2000, the Marvin “Butch” Potts Memorial Award, known as the Boating Law Enforcement Officer of the Year Award, is presented annually to the boating law enforcement officer who has made outstanding contributions to the field of boating law enforcement. The award program consists of three levels: state, regional and national.
The National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA) is a national nonprofit, 501(c)3 organization that works to develop public policy for recreational boating safety. NASBLA represents the recreational boating authorities of all 50 states and the U.S. territories. We offer a variety of resources, including training, model acts, education standards, publications and more. Through a national network of thousands of professional educators, law enforcement officers and volunteers, we affect the lives of nearly 85 million American boaters.