[H&K 4 LIFE]

Long story short. Today I saw a person whom I did not recognize in my front yard. I took a quick glance out the front door and spotted a man heading across my driveway towards the front of my house. He was wearing a t-shirt and jeans, with a yellow reflective vest, and carrying what I, at the time, perceived to be tools. Before I could get outside to confront him, he was gone. No truck or anything else in the road to indicate he was from any type of utility company.

So... I called the police (non-emergency) and they sent out an officer whom I talked with.

After all is said and done... it turns out it was the Water Authority guy checking meters (I'm not on city water, no reason he should be on my property). I recognized him later when he was checking the house across the street. Upon having a talk with the meter reader, I then called the officer back. :embarassed:

I felt the responding officer was very professional and seemed genuinely concerned. He told me that burglaries are a reality, sometimes in broad daylight, so even though this turned out to be nothing in the end it is still important to call. Myself, I feel kind of bad for what now amounts to over-reacting.

My question is this- If I go down to the PD, how can I submit some form of appreciation for this individual officer? I wish to put on record an acknowledgment of his professionalism and courtesy. Will something like this stay in his "file" as positive recognition from a citizen?

 

[glockbob]

Mail a thank you letter to the officer's pd. Address it to the officer or to the Chief or Sheriff if you feel its appropriate.

I have received thank you letters for speaking at small group gatherings. I appreciated the acknowledgment.

As far as the letter staying in the officer's file, I would guess it depends on the dept, but more than likely yes.

 

[H&K 4 LIFE]

Thanks for the reply.

Is a letter something I could submit in person at the PD? What I am wondering is if there is some type of form I could fill out that would go directly onto record.

Keep the replies coming.

 

[ChrisJn]

My question is this- If I go down to the PD, how can I submit some form of appreciation for this individual officer? I wish to put on record an acknowledgment of his professionalism and courtesy. Will something like this stay in his "file" as positive recognition from a citizen?

Be careful how you word it.

Many years ago whilst serving as a detective at London's Heathrow airport I had a passenger write to the Commissioner of Police:
" I wish to commend to you Detective Sergeant ...., on his patience and courtesy when dealing with me on my arrival from Northern Ireland.
However.....". Then followed a two page tirade about the "draconian powers" given to Police under The Prevention of Terrorism Act 1974.

It was treated as a "complaint against police" and I was obliged to make a "duty statement" cataloging my actions. Go figure.

 

[ray9898]

Find out who his supervisor is and write a letter commending the officer. It gets a "good job" from the boss and usually makes it to his permanent file.

I guarantee every officer appreciates that and I commend you for even taking the time, most don't.

 

[H&K 4 LIFE]

Be careful how you word it...

Will do. The last thing I would want is for anything I do further to impact upon the officer negatively. He probably already has some pointless paperwork to do on my behalf anyway. I only wish to express my gratitude for a job well done.

 

[phred119]

Agreed. Write a letter to the agency, addressed to the Cheif or Sheriff, whichever is appropriate. Once recieved, compliments are usually paraphrased onto appropriate departmental forms/memo/etc, and passed down to the officer's supervision, and, ultimately the officer himself.

Its always nice to get compliments from citizens who appreciate what we do.

 

[packsaddle]

A letter to the Chief/Sheriff AND a letter to the editor of the local newspaper (although most liberal newspapers won't print anything supportive of LE).

 

[Mayhem like Me]

Or you could post this in GNG and they will tell you how the officer violated your rights...

A letter to the agency head is the very best way , AND a very classy touch is a little personal note inside it in a smaller envelope with the officers name on the outside as a personal thank you ...
I have recently received a few of these and kept them.

 

[collim1]

If more people called immediately when something was smelling fishy we would catch alot more burglars.

People seem to wait 10mins and think about whether or not call, then they call their husband and talk to him about it, and then they call 20mins later, and its 30mins before officer get in the area.

Then we find their neighbor's house was broke into, but because of the time delay and lack of attention to details we have nothing to go on.

Honestly as far as I am concerned just knowing you will call again next time is enough for me. I hate a burglar more than anything, and hunt them down ruthlessly, but it is tough to catch even a novice burglar in a marked police car by myself.

 

[H&K 4 LIFE]

Or you could post this in GNG and they will tell you how the officer violated your rights....

Part of the reason I posted this here instead.

Keep in mind, I talked with the officer while carrying my G17 concealed. I never brought up guns, and neither did he. Rest assured, none of my rights were violated and I am very pleased with the officers response and demeanor.

I will, in some manner, be notifying the local PD as to the good service he performed.

 

[H&K 4 LIFE]

If more people called immediately when something was smelling fishy we would catch alot more burglars.

People seem to wait 10mins and think about whether or not call...

I confess I am guilty of that. I waited about 15 minutes debating whether or not to call. Eventually, the totality of the circumstances just did not sit right with me.

I ultimately decided that it was in the interest of greater public safety to report what I had seen.

Thanks for the support.

 

[Patchman]

I've only received one such letter (that I know of) that eventually got to me through official channels.

I'm sure your officer will think exactly what I thought... "but it was my job to do that." Still, it was nice.

 

[packsaddle]

I hate a burglar more than anything, and hunt them down ruthlessly, but it is tough to catch even a novice burglar in a marked police car by myself.

It's not the marked unit that gives you away, it's your hat.

Take off the hat and they'll never see you coming.

 

[Pepper45]

I confess I am guilty of that. I waited about 15 minutes debating whether or not to call. Eventually, the totality of the circumstances just did not sit right with me.

I ultimately decided that it was in the interest of greater public safety to report what I had seen.

Thanks for the support.

In the future, don't hesitate to call. If it's absolutely nothing, well, at least we are going through your neighborhood and "showing the flag". If there are burglars in the area, they've just been shown that neighbors pay attention, and that the cops will show up pretty quickly.

I think it's very nice of you to want to thank the officer. It's something we don't hear (at least sincerely) very often. A quick note about his professionalism and understanding will go a long way for him. I almost framed my first one of those.

 

[toddmog]

So... I called the police (non-emergency) and they sent out an officer whom I talked with.

Never talk to the police. :supergrin:

 

[H&K 4 LIFE]

I dropped off my letter of appreciation at the PD today, left it with the officer on watch. Hopefully he will make sure it goes through the proper channel.

 

[rookie1]

Like everyone else said, send a letter to the highest person in command either Chief or Sheriff. The letter then will sometimes trickle down the ranks to the officer. So now the highest ranked person knows about it and then your immediate boss and sometimes everyone in between.

I had someone email the Chief thanking me for being professional on a traffic stop. I wrote this guy a ticket and he still sent the Chief an email thanking me. He mentioned that I was dressed professional and acted professional. It was 3 paragraphs and I'm not going to bore you with. He got the email, 3 of my supervisors and it was also copied to the city manager. It was mentioned in my annual review, still good to see something like that on my end.

 

[volsbear]

A few of the police departments around here have features on their websites where you can make a complaint or give a compliment to an officer. But in my opinion, the more earnest gesture is to write a letter of your own.

 

[H&K 4 LIFE]

Well, I kind of got the impression they may just give the letter to the officer directly, but I did write the opening addressing it to the chief of police. It was very short, and as was suggested by others here I worded carefully and was not long winded so as to be possibly misinterpreted.

Either way, I'm just glad to express my appreciation somehow. If someone provides me with good service I like to see that they are acknowledged for it if at all possible.