From the ODU Publisher William Schwarz, To ALL Law Enforcement. Recently I have made a point to reach out to every police office, sheriff and trooper I have the opportunity too. I am from a law enforcement family and understand the police can be invisible to most. That can be good. In many cases we want that. We want to go about our daily lives, being a family, going to family events, fishing, hunting, working- the list goes on and on. There are over 750,000 sworn police offices in the United States and nearly 70,000 in Canada. That is nearly 1 office per 400 citizens in the United States and 1 officer per 500 in Canada. Their job to serve and protect has been hard, taxing, stressful and vigilant for as long as I can remember. Over the past several years and with recent events streamed to every citizen in North America via TV, social media, etc we know their jobs have changed. I have stories I could share here of how specifically the law enforcement community feels today! Law enforcement seems to be more visible to many of us now, and that is for many reasons. Our police need to know they are important to us, the citizens.
“Thank You For Doing What You Do”
This is what I do, everyday now, if the opportunity presents itself. I respectfully walk up to an officer or group of officers and say “excuse me”, I smile and kindly say “Thank You For Doing What You Do”. Smile again and I am off to my next opportunity. At times I shake their hands, again if appropriate.
I was at the largest sport fishing trade show this past week (ICAST) and I can see how the mood has changed for some. One night early in the week I spoke to two officers who asked me why I thanked them. They knew I was there for a convention. I told them as I wrote above who I was, where I come from and why I feel I have to say “Thank You”. I know that both officers were very happy to hear my take and my level of understanding. One was a veteran officer with over 20 years of policing, the other officer with over ten. Great representatives for all law enforcement.
Take the time please to thank an officer……….. “Thank You For Doing What You Do”