Do people ever stop to think about how much sacrifice is made by our police officers?

Question

have you ever just approached a police officer and said thank you?

wanda-i'm not saying there are not other people and family that shouldn't be appreciated and thanked but if you can thank someone for serving you food in a restaurant, or holding open a door for you, or giving you shelter when you needed it, then why don't police officers deserve the same? don't you usually thank someone that does you a service?

Answer 1

Nice question.
You deserve the 10 points for this one.

As a Police Officer, I always went out of my way to thank others in any type of service industry, and in retail.

It always made my day to have someone thank me, just for doing my job. Money and benefits don't mean as much as being appreciated.

Answer 2

Thank you for the thought. It is appreciated.

Most members of the public do respect the police. The detractors on Yahoo are in a small minority.

I do accept that the government are pushing the police to give them statistics and figures in order to achieve funding. This obviously works its way down to the officers on the streets, who take the brunt of that. Regardless most officers are willing to go out and get stuck in. I have chased numerous people into derelict buildings, houses and unknown areas, where it clearly could be dangerous. Although I could just let them go I accept that I should do all I can and therefore make the effort to catch them. I deal with the situation as I find it. One day I could come unstuck, but that's the territory I work in.

I am painfully aware of the number and manner in which UK police officers have died whilst on duty. Those officers made the ultimate sacrifice.

Yes the pay is OK and the pension too (serving officers pension contributions cover the pensions paid out by the way), but equally I could do a desk job with no risk for more money. I'm not moaning because I choose to do what I do.

Thanks again.

Answer 3

No, and I know better than to be so naive.

I've ridden along with police. I've seen things and become privy to things that are SO injust that it doesn't even begin to warrant a thank you by anybody.

I've been deputized thrice.

I've been authorized to start putting bullets into a guy if he did one of a short list of things, and he did three of those things, but he didn't do the one thing that I knew would actually make him a threat to anybody's safety, so I didn't pull my trigger, and the guy is still alive, with no idea that his very own death warrant had been consciously ignored over some very understandable misunderstandings.

Did he ever thank me for that? No. Nor do I expect him to. I hope he never learns. I don't EVER want him or his family to learn just how readily the rest of the local law-enforcement community was willing to snuff out his life without even BEGINNING to give him the benefit of any doubt.

Any law enforcement officer who expects any kind of grattitude for doing his job right, is someone who should be switching careers to something like being a commission-only salesman.

Just remember, the next time you thank an unknown-to-you police officer, you might actually be thanking the one who shot and killed the amber alert suspect who had the missing kid stow away in his vehicle because the custodial parent didn't want the kid spending any more time with the now-dead-suspect.

Or you might be thanking the officer who was too illiterate to read the instructions that come with every box of bean-bag shotgun rounds, killing the suspect who was at that point being a threat to nobody.

Or you might be thanking the officer who will wind up shooting a bunch of his former schoolmates to death.

Or you might be thanking the guy who goes around in an undercover role of convincing the populace that something illegal isn't so bad and doable and even demonstrate how impunable the perpetrators of such (like him) are, all in order to then allow others to come in and catch those people on camera, giving probable cause to arrest and prosecute otherwise upstanding citizens.

A good police officer is one who does his job, does it right, and accepts praise from nobody out of the full knowlege that by doing his job right, nobody is going to be completely happy with his actions and decisions.

All the rest are NOT good police officers, and therefore not even minimally worthy of anybody's thanks.

Answer 4

I have many relatives, including my dad, who are police officers. What a lot of people don't really think about or even understand is that EVERYTIME a cop kisses his wife & kids good-bye when he leaves for work may be the last time they see him alive. It is a very dangerous job. They risk their lives everyday just to protect and to serve the public. Police officers should be respected & thought of as heroes. I'm not sure if I've ever said "thank you", but I am very appreciative of the sacrifices of my relatives & their brethren.

Answer 5

Yes, I sincerely appreciate them doing a job I, frankly, have no interest in doing nor the ability.

But, no, I would never approach an officer and thank them - they might think I'm a wierdo.

Answer 6

I work really closely with the police where I live and they have said that it stuns them when a member of the public says thanks. I rang an office I knew once just to say hi, how you're doing and he said no one had ever done that before. It goes both ways too - their boss recently emailed and thanked me for my support. Community should be fully inclusive.

Answer 7

If you are in the UK you have to find one first walking the beat, if you approach them in the car they will probably think you are being cocky, having said that I for one really appreciate what they do because it is not easy.

Answer 8

Having lived around the world you realise just how great the UK police are... professional, polite and helpful. Without doubt the best in the world.... people moan about them but where would we be without them?

Answer 9

Some cops don't deserve to be told the time of day, but yes, I have said thank you to many police officers. And yes, I think they are under appreciated.

Answer 10

I'm not going to enter into a debate about this as it will get me nowhere.

I will however thank you for your support.