Thank A Police Officer Day 2013

Today is Thank A Police Officer Day; Saturday, September 21, 2013.  Today I'm ignoring the bad behavior of a few and thanking the rest of the department for their service.

I live in Sylvania Township, Ohio which is not to be confused with the city of Sylvania.  We in the township have our own police department, which is comprised of the best officers East of the Mississippi and North of the Mason-Dixon line.  My thanks to the Sylvania Township Police Department for doing an outstanding job.  I've written about the Sylvania Township police on other occasions; here are two:Late Breaking News: Major Electric Blackout Averted and Sylvania Township Police.

We live next door to the city of Sylvania, and in fact Main Lady is served by the Sylvania PD.  Sylvania did an outstanding job for us which I related here: Hit and Run. I'll never forget seeing this abandoned car in Main Lady's front yard and wondering (aloud) what I was going to do.  The officer replied cheerfully that they'd be glad to tow it out of there for me, which lifted a huge weight off my shoulders.  Between the Township and the City they caught the driver, who was hammered beyond coherent thought and who claimed a neck injury and so went to the hospital for a butt load of pain killers rather than a medium sized set of lumps and an extended stay in the drunk tank.  The court system let the offender go, by the way.  If I didn't know better, I'd say there was some kind of job security conspiracy going on between the judge, the lawyers and the cops.  You guys bust 'em, we'll prosecute and defend 'em, and the judge will let 'em go.  They're bound to screw up again, and you guys can bust 'em.

How real does some of that sound to the cops out there?

Finally I come to the Toledo Police Department, which I wrote about in My Ride Along. Suffice to say that I saw them in action and these officers turned in an absolutely stellar performance when they assisted a mentally ill woman.  Thanks to their kindness and consideration these two officers really turned her day around for her.

So then, this is my thanks to all you police officers out there.  You show up every single day for work and hope for a nice, quiet day.  Every time you interact with the public you make someone's life just a little better, and every once in a while you get the chance to make a huge difference in someone's life.

My sincere thanks, a tip of the old fedora and a hoist of my afternoon bourbon glass.

Here's how!