My renewed appreciation for local law enforcement

Due to changes in the reporting staff at the Chronicle, this old editor has found himself back in the saddle covering the most basic beat a reporter typically covers in a newspaper career – the police beat.

For decades, it was my reporter who met with the police department and sheriff’s office to write what we call the blotter, the day-to-day workings of law enforcement. Karla, Brad, Patti, Ryan and Stormy sat down each week to gather the news of smalltown agencies and their daily work in our community.

And now it’s me.

The police (and sheriff) blotter typically covers things like barking dogs, domestic quarrels, driving complaints, fender benders, neighbor disputes, parking problems, a lost child, welfare checks, the occasional arrest, horses on the run, dogs on the run, cows on the run, even goats on the run. And, of course, suspicious individuals in hoodies skulking about. 

People from the outside chuckle at the little tidbits we report every week as if we’re Mayberry with Sheriff Andy Taylor and Deputy Barney Fife.

Haha.

But on the serious side, officers and deputies respond to crashes and fires, and they investigate thefts, assaults and cases of fraud. They assist with search and rescue. Troopers investigate serious car and truck crashes.

Sometimes officers deal with horrific things no one should ever have to experience alongside medical first responders: fatal crashes, shootings and much more. Think of the boys burned in the Fourth of July incident a couple of years ago when fireworks started exploding inside a moving vehicle west of Cowley or the terrible murder-suicide that claimed a mother and her four daughters a year ago in Byron. Such cases leave emotional scars in officers that may never fully heal.

One thing I have learned being back in the police blotter business is how much our officers care about their community and the people of our community. In an era of growing mistrust of law enforcement nationwide, enflamed by social media, the vast majority of our officers are the best examples of community policing. I see it in their eyes, in the way they explain cases and in the countless examples of their willingness to serve. I see the diligence with which they investigate cases, the countless hours they put in to solve a case and the care and concern they express as they work with people in distress. We have written many stories of lives saved by the actions of local officers.

I will tell you that I have been concerned about the militarization of local police departments in which officers take a harder and more confrontational approach with citizens, but I have seen very little of that in our area. What I do see is a community-based approach with the best interests of the people at heart. Of course there will be the occasional bad apple, but by and large, I have been impressed with the professional and respectful manner in which local officers deal with sometimes tense situations.

Much of the time, officers are simply helping people. Deputies put cows and horses back in their pasture, clear debris from the highway and stop to assist stranded motorists. Police officers check on the welfare of people, give advice, calmly settle disputes and help find lost dogs.

School resource officers interact with and assist students in our schools, support them at ballgames and work with parents and teachers who need a helping hand with a child.

I think what it comes down to is that our officers, deputies and highway patrol troopers see themselves as members of the community. They get involved in organizations, go to church with us, cheer at ballgames and coach youth activities.

Talk to soon-to-retire Sheriff Ken Blackburn, and you will quickly see the passion with which he desires to serve the community he loves, but you will also see the toll a lifetime of difficult calls has taken. He truly cares.

Our officers are not robots. They are people, people who have a difficult and often very stressful job to do but one they love – most of the time.

I urge our readers to read the grateful comments this week from Sarah Askvig Pitt regarding the work and time officer Dusty Schultz put in to find her daughter Kourtnee. He almost worked around the clock.

In a time of national mistrust, even scorn, it is far too easy to apply national politics to the local level. But I see things differently here on the ground in north Big Horn County, meeting with deputies, officers and troopers, covering incidents and seeing them at work.

No, they are not perfect. Like anyone, they have bad days and make mistakes. But I think we are very fortunate in our neck of the woods to have law enforcement officers, EMTs, search and rescue volunteers and well-trained firemen second to none.

If you get a chance, reach out and shake the hand of an officer. And say thanks.