As most in our area know, a group of our spouses and significant others recently called the community’s attention to ‘National Thank a Police Officer Day.’ They did so because they wanted to help ensure that all law enforcement officers who work in the greater Fond du Lac area understand how the service and sacrifices they make are respected and appreciated by the vast majority of our community. This effort, of course, is in response to the negative and anti-law enforcement rhetoric that has become so common throughout our society. The response to that call, by literally thousands of area individuals, was absolutely overwhelming. With that said, on behalf of the men and women of the City of Fond du Lac Police Department, I want to offer a most heartfelt thank you to the members of this community for the incredible outpouring of respect, support and appreciation that you showed to our Police Department and the law enforcement community in general over the past week and a half. Ideally, I could list every single person, business, school and organization that sent us a message, invited us to visit them, or otherwise displayed, organized, or participated in some type of a gesture of support and thanks. However as previously indicated, there were thousands of you, perhaps tens of thousands, so there is simply no way that I could even begin to thank each person, business, or organization individually. So I offer this letter of thanks to each of you. Whether you put a blue ribbon on a tree, displayed a blue light, put a sign in your yard or outside of your business, or sent us a letter, video, food/snacks, or some token of appreciation; we thank you all. I absolutely could not begin to explain just how much each of those gestures mean to our people but also to their spouses, children, parents, and other loved ones. This is, without exception, the most challenging time that our profession has faced in the modern history of policing. The viral nature of the ongoing verbal assaults and accusations of widespread gross negligence by our nation’s police officers has really taken an emotional toll on the men and women who serve as law enforcement officers. Tragically, the calls for violence against police officers and the accompanying prevalence of ambush and violent assaults on law enforcement officers have served to seriously inflame that rhetoric. Of course our spouses, children, and parents all hear and feel it too – oftentimes frightening them more than us. Unfortunately, that reality is all too familiar in our community where that type of violence has claimed the lives of 2 law enforcement officers in the past 4 ½ years. Needless to say, the ongoing vocal sentiment in our society has indeed hit home with our people and our families. But through it all these extraordinary people, who are City of Fond du Lac Police Officers, have continued to stand tall in the service and protection of this community; they have never faltered, never wavered, nor lost their fierce commitment to uphold their sworn oath to protect the citizens of the City of Fond du Lac. Yes, our people hear the rhetoric and we most certainly have seen and felt first-hand the tragic results of that violence towards law enforcement officers. But we have always believed that the masses still respect and appreciate the service and sacrifices of our nation’s law enforcement officers. Thank you all for taking the time to help send a very loud and clear message that our beliefs are correct. It is through your extraordinary acts of kindness and support that our police officers and their loved ones know, deep down inside, that they are making a difference and that the risks and sacrifices are worth it. As I said before, I could never begin to explain just how much your words and actions have meant to all of our people and our families. In closing, I also need to share a public and heartfelt thanks to those very special ladies, our spouses and significant others, that took their appeal out into the community. Thank you all for starting what turned out to be another amazing effort by the greater Fond du Lac community.
Chief Bill Lamb
City of Fond du Lac Police Department
