TABC Remembers Fallen Officer Joseph Crews

Today marks the 41st anniversary of the passing of Joseph Thomas “Jay” Crews, who became the second commissioned officer of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission to die in the line of duty since the agency’s inception in 1935.

After departing an inspection at a licensed business on Sept. 21, 1979, an intoxicated driver came into Inspector Crews’ lane of traffic and hit his vehicle head on. 

Crews was a dedicated law enforcement officer. The badge of an inspector of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission is engraved on the tombstone above the words “To protect and to serve.”

TABC now recognizes the new agent cadet with the highest grade point average in each agent academy with the Crews Academic Award.  

Before becoming an officer with TABC, Crews was a schoolteacher at Chester Independent School District in Tyler County. Inspector Crews’ wife, Jane Knight, and daughter Jennifer live with their family near Woodville, Texas. His brother, John, lives in the Columbus, Texas area.