Unlike where I grew up in New England, the people of western Washington State like to keep their snow in the mountains. But about once a decade, give or take, a bona fide snowstorm slams this area—not the one-inch, dusting wall-to-wall media coverage normally experienced. Nope, February 2019 was one of those years with real winter storms hitting in succession over a couple weeks. It also remained cold, so the snow has lingered.
My wife and I had a February snowshoeing vacation planned in Leavenworth, WA. It was fun, but we could have saved ourselves some money, stayed home, and just snowshoed out the front door.
One thing this snow event did, though, was motivate one resident to thank his local police officers for making life a little easier for those struggling to get through this rare winter weather.
Now, this sentiment could apply to any law enforcement agency in the country during any inclement weather. But these examples are of Mountlake Terrace (WA) police officers:
- A sergeant and an officer helped a resident free a car stuck in the snow at an apartment complex.
- An officer came to the aid of an elderly woman stuck at home. She couldn’t get to the store for groceries and her medications. The officer gave the woman a ride to the store and then gave her a ride back home.
- Two officers helped a mom and child dig her vehicle out of the snow, so she could get her child to school.
- An officer responded to check the welfare of a low-income family. They were fine but unable to get to the store. A food bank had provided some food, but they had no milk. The officer left but later returned with two gallons of milk he’d bought for them.
Other officers helped numerous people in countless small and caring ways throughout the unusual and lengthy winter storm.
These actions may seem insignificant. But think about these acts of kindness, some of which are not normally within a cop’s specific duties. What if it were your elderly parent, your wife and child, or your sister and her kids? Would you think they were inconsequential, then?
A resident on the community’s Facebook page posted these examples. They highlight only a fraction of the compassionate acts police officers provided to/for the community they serve and protect. Just like thousands of officers do in thousands of communities every day across America.
