Pierce County Sheriff’s Department announcement.
On June 16, 2022, at 12:15 p.m., our deputies responded to IHOP on 176th St E and Canyon Rd E to assist Central Pierce Fire & Rescue (CPFR) with a man who was having a mental health episode and believed people were trying to harm him. Fire personnel requested assistance because the man was agitated, and they were concerned he might become aggressive with them.
When our deputies arrived, they were kind, respectful, caring and compassionate. They helped the man calm down and made him feel comfortable about receiving care.
CPFR noted the professionalism displayed by our deputies during this tense situation and wrote a commendation letter for their actions:
“As your Officers arrived, Deputy Inga Hess began to immediately de-escalate the situation. Upon your arrival, the methodical, calm, professional and genuinely caring approach to the patient changed the whole vibe on the scene. The patient was visibly, continuing to feel more at ease. Our crews worked together with Deputy David Sutherland to find a positive resolution to the situation and eventually the patient was transported by Deputy Rebecca Eckhart to the Recovery Response Center (RRC) in Fife.
Because of the genuine concern, de-escalation techniques and professional approach delivered by your Deputies, this interaction, by my definition, is another model example of how a response to behavioral emergencies should occur.”
Ten years ago, after serving with the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department for 25 years, I retired on April Fool’s Day.
It gladdeneds my heart to see the men and women, who followed me still serving as deputies for the citizens of Pierce County, and in doing so, accomplish such wonderful work.
Deputy Joseph Boyle, #333 Emeritus
Is it not interesting that our big main line media typically only publishes stories and opinion pieces about bad cop stories?
During my 25 years in law enforcement, I saw actions as depicted in the video almost every shift. Somewhere during the middle of the day or the middle of the night some cop(s) was helping solve problems for someone. It happens all the time, but the public never hears about it. I even got to help a few myself during my 2 1/2 decades of police work. I know what goes on.
Thank you Ben Sclair, Editor of The Suburban Times, for publishing a good cop story.
Believe me, after my observing cops for 72 years in Washington State, Chicago, Illinois, Mississippi, Canada and many other parts of the globe, I can tell you, yes there are bad cops, rougue cops, but there are many more good cops, excellent cops who serve us on a daily basis 24 / 7 / 365. (That is 366 days of service every leap year.) The majority of our cops are a positive credit to the uniform and badge.
Let’s not defund the police. Let’s be smart by increasing funding for the police. If we all support and respect police, along with complying with official legal police orders, all of us will be well served.
Joseph Boyle – A volunteer world observer.
This really hit me surprisingly hard. I had tears running down my cheeks. I am told I am hard and unemotional; yet seeing police attending to this person, reassuring and trying to help him, is so far from what we normally see in the media. This won’t go viral or sell advertising in the papers. It shows the other side of what the police are doing everyday even though our legislature, courts and media vilify them all too often. Thank you Pierce County Sheriff department.
Bravo to the PCSD for a job well done. The reason these encounters aren’t as well is because they are the norm. News is about the the abnormal occurrences. Still it’s very important to show the good work done by all segments of society.
I understand the reality of news reports. Being a retired special education teacher my students’ triumphs weren’t newsworthy to any but them their parents and myself. It would be wonderful to have a good news program. Maybe the future with see the need for this. Our community mental health would profit.
Please continue to publish stories like this.