John Banner, 39, is a police sergeant who supervises night patrol officers with the White Settlement Police Department in western Tarrant County. The Fort Worth Report named him as a local unsung hero in its weekly 52 Faces series.
Banner received a 2026 State of Texas Law Enforcement Achievement Award for Valor from the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement. He was honored at the Texas State Capitol this summer. The award recognized his role in stopping a man who had explosives and weapons in his vehicle and intended violence toward family members.
In November 2024, Banner was about 40 minutes from the end of his shift when he was sent to check a suspicious vehicle. He found a white work van with an Oklahoma man who had a gun on his lap. Banner called for backup. “We were able to distract him and grab the gun,” Banner said. He said officers later found bomb-making materials and explosives in the back of the van.