Ever been thanked by someone you arrested or cited?

**Jenna** · 07-18-06, 08:50 PM

Have people ever thanked you for arresting or giving tickets to them? If so, what were the circumstances, and why do you think they thanked you? Or do such things only happen in the movies?

**zpd307** · 07-18-06, 08:55 PM

yeah, quite a few times. i got the getting a thank you for giving me a ticket down. now im on to when i arrest them!!!! i think all lot of it has to do with if you treated them decent or not. i have had a bunch of compliments that i was nice to them at the time. if they are respectful, i lay it on. if they are assholes, then game on.

**TheeBadOne** · 07-18-06, 09:51 PM

One "bitter-ass DWI arrestee" surprised me when I ran into him a year later (his 2nd or 3rd offense when I had him). He introduced himself and told me he was doing much better (I found out later, he was). He thanked me for doing my job and my professionalism (he was much more than an ass). Sadly, he's part of the minority, not the majority. Still, it's refreshing to see human beings, well, being human.
I've had a few (very few) thank me while doing traffic enforcement.

TBO

**General Patten** · 07-18-06, 10:57 PM

one of my CJ teachers told me about a violent alcoholic he arrested (and kinda beat up) during a domestic incident who later thanked him for it.

Apparently, he ran into him at the checkout line at a grocery store and the guy just turned around, shook his hand, and thanked him for knocking some sense into him and giving him a reason to stop drinking so much.

**OfficerResource.com** · 07-18-06, 11:01 PM

Originally Posted by Jenna

Have people ever thanked you for arresting or giving tickets to them? If so, what were the circumstances, and why do you think they thanked you? Or do such things only happen in the movies?

YES,

This happens more often than you would think. When Im doing my job i do that, My job. I don't talk down to people, or lecture them. The "good" people know that when i cite them or arrest them they know that they broke the law, and Im just doing my job.

**zpd307** · 07-18-06, 11:02 PM

Originally Posted by Reca

YES,

This happens more often than you would think. When Im doing my job i do that, My job. I don't talk down to people, or lecture them. The "good" people know that when i cite them or arrest them they know that they broke the law, and Im just doing my job.

AMEN!!

**Retdetsgt** · 07-18-06, 11:33 PM

I even had a guy I arrested for 1st degree assault (stabbed another guy) thank me. His mother wrote a letter to the chief thanking me for the way I treated him after his arrest.

**AGalCop** · 07-18-06, 11:36 PM

I have been complimented many times on arrests, with comments like, "If I had to be arrested atleast it was a cool cop." "Thanks for not being an a@@" "It's nice to meet a nice cop for a change." I got a bouquet of cookies for catching a couple burglars breaking into a guys car, that was from a victim tho.

**Jks9199** · 07-18-06, 11:40 PM

Originally Posted by Jenna

Have people ever thanked you for arresting or giving tickets to them? If so, what were the circumstances, and why do you think they thanked you? Or do such things only happen in the movies?

More than once...

I've even had someone send a letter of praise to the chief after I gave him a ticket!

I routinely had comments about the way I treated people I arrested; often defense counsels were suprised that I treated their client like a human being. (Hey, it's just easier if I start treating 'em courteously instead of automatically escalating it by treating 'em like scum... Unless, of course, they request the scumbag treatment!)

**mavriktu** · 07-19-06, 06:37 AM

Originally Posted by zpd307

yeah, quite a few times. i got the getting a thank you for giving me a ticket down. now im on to when i arrest them!!!! i think all lot of it has to do with if you treated them decent or not. i have had a bunch of compliments that i was nice to them at the time. if they are respectful, i lay it on. if they are assholes, then game on.

Same here ,exactly.Think you will find that in most cases it is almost the norm as long as you dont act like a rectal aperture.

**dlefdal** · 07-19-06, 08:07 AM

Yup, I try and get as many thank you's as possible. I get quite a few of them after citations for traffic infractions. A few for the criminal arrests. They are more memorable than the usual ass holes.

**AgentParsons** · 07-19-06, 10:25 AM

I hear it all the time. Thanks for arresting me; "now I can stop running" or " At least I can stop looking behind me!"

Useally from tired fugitive that have been on hte run for ever and are just glad to get it done!

**GarcoDeputy** · 07-19-06, 10:49 AM

All the time.

**CountyFourteen** · 07-19-06, 12:49 PM

I get thanked all the time, I would guess that it is mostly due to the respect I show the ones I arrest, or that I gave them the time of day to explain what happened, even though they still go to jail or recieve a citation.

**dadyswat** · 07-19-06, 01:37 PM

Yep, even got kissed when I didn't expect it.

**Sapper_132** · 07-19-06, 01:43 PM

I've been thanked for not hooking people in front of their chilren many times. But I was as shocked as the next guy when I received thank you letters for a traffic stop. But yeah it happens

**Kimble** · 07-19-06, 03:18 PM

Originally Posted by Jenna

Have people ever thanked you for arresting or giving tickets to them? If so, what were the circumstances, and why do you think they thanked you? Or do such things only happen in the movies?

This wasn't an arrest or a cite, but I remember being thanked by a guy when we did a prisoner transfer (picked him up from a po-dunk municipal jail to take to our county jail). He said we treated him fairly and he appreciated it.

Felt bad for the guy because the jail in the city looked more like a chicken coop than anything made for people. Hell, the main door going to the "jail" area had a swinging screen door. It's a department in a town known to be a shithole.

**PatrolGalOPD** · 07-19-06, 06:28 PM

Just like most of these other posts I too have been thanked alot after I gave someone a ticket. Once I had a guy that I had arrested for DUI & taken down to the jail to see what his alcohol content was down there. He was acting pretty goofy, but not enough for me to book him in. I had to ask him to keep it down a few times, so I could finish my reports, or I'd have to book him in overnight, instead of just giving him a ticket and letting him go when I got done. Well I finally got the ticket written and had given him his ticket copy with the court date, etc. and was letting him out of the building when he leaned over and kissed me on the cheek! I couldn't believe it! He took off running and I yelled out after him, trying to keep a straight face, that it was a good thing that he was running or I'd book him in for "sexual misconduct" It was pretty funny though and made for a good story in the long run. But mostly I found that if I just took the time to explain to people why they were getting a ticket or just didn't act like a jerk to them, they would be appreciative of that. Besides, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that I'd want to be treated the way I would treat someone, within reason (with the exception of child molesters, etc. It was kind of hard to be nice to those people.)

**slamdunc** · 07-19-06, 06:41 PM

After having handled sixty-seven domestic battery complaints, thirty-one child abuse / neglect cases and numerous other crimes against persons, I never received a thank you.
I handle one crime against animal, and my agency is bombarded with thank you's and atta-boys from over thirty individuals and animal rights agencies. This is the newspaper article.

Harrisburg Daily Regiser

Monday, February 7, 2005

Man arrested after throwing dog off balcony

COTTAGE -- Saline County Sheriff's Deputies arrested a Harrisburg man who admitted to throwing a dog over a second-story balcony, breaking it's leg.

Deputy Billy Duncan arrested Justin M. Aud, 21, 1416 A McHaney Road, Harrisburg, Saturday afternoon on a charge of disorderly conduct. Aud posted $100 cash bond and was released from Saline County Detention Center.

Southeastern Illinois College baseball players Rob Andres, 20, Jake Lane, 19, and Matt Smith, 19, reported to Duncan Aud had come to the Campus Living apartment complex - a privately owned complex near the college -- on Muddy Road where they reside at 1:30 a.m. Saturday, was drinking beer and was talking about having driven his Jeep 90 mph and knocking over a traffic sign, according to Duncan's report.

The three said the basset hound, Pete, who collectively belongs to the college baseball players was also out on the balcony.

The three said Aud urinated off the balcony and then picked up Pete the dog and threw him over the balcony rail, the report indicates.

The group confronted Aud who told them he was raised to kill dogs when they snap at him, the report indicates.

Andres took Pete to Harrisburg Vet Clinic and learned the dog had a fractured right front leg bone. The doctor told Andres the injury will require orthopedic surgery to repair and likely will cost between $600 and $1,200, according to the report.

Duncan found Aud at his home at 2:30 p.m. and Aud told him the reason he threw the dog was because it snapped at him and he though it might have mange, the report indicates.

Duncan told Aud he was arresting him on a charge of disorderly conduct and would submit the report to the State's Attorney to review for possible felony charges of criminal damage to domestic livestock since the cost of treatment is expected to exceed $300, the report indicates.

Duncan also told Aud he may be liable for damages in civil court, as well, according to the report.

This guy ended up with a felony, as I (along with PETA and ASPCA reps) convinced the state's attorney to file for aggravated cruelty to animals.
Part of his sentence was anger management / alternatives to violence and alcohol counseling, that was my thank you from him.