One of the White Hats...

We're quick to point out the stories of police excess, whether it be excessive force, "only one" mentality, or the "respect mah authoritay" types. It's imperative, then, to recognize the other direction as well; to highlight the cops that go above and beyond and are a credit to the badge.

Bozeman Police Officer Marek Ziegler is such a credit.

Officer purchases food for man caught stealing

Bozeman Police Officer Marek Ziegler was called to Van’s IGA last Friday night to check on a shoplifting report. The 33-year-old officer has been on the Bozeman force for three years. He is a K-9 handler and works nights, from about 9 p.m. to 7 a.m.

When he got to the grocery store on North Seventh Avenue, employees told Ziegler that a 32-year-old man had stuffed food and “pens, pencils, maybe markers, things for his kids” into his coat.

Sounds pretty open-and-shut, right? Well, the story doesn't end with Mr. Sticky Fingers getting a free ride to the Graybar Hotel.

“He was really upset,” Ziegler said this week. “Basically, he told me he’s having a hard time and can’t provide the food for his family right now, so that’s why he was stealing.” Ziegler already had the man’s address, but asked for the man’s phone number.

“I told him, ‘Give me 15 minutes,’ and I went and got him some food.” Ziegler ran to Wal-Mart, picked up a few frozen pizzas and delivered them to the man’s house.

Can we perhaps clone Officer Ziegler (throw in LawDog and Matt G. while we're at it) and put them to work around the country? That right there would do a helluva lot more to restore the peoples' in our cops than any initiative or edict from on high. They'll still enforce the laws, of course, but the ability to differentiate between a soldier in Sumdood's army and someone generally down on their luck is invaluable for maintaining good community relations.

Good job, Officer Ziegler!

That is all.

Link found through SayUncle's post here.