One of the aspects we value most from our Community is their willingness to speak up and voice their concerns, even when doing so may be difficult. Our Community deserves to be heard, and we want you to know we are listening.   

This week, we accepted a food donation from a local business, as we often do, and posted a thank you on social media.  This is not uncommon, as our Community is very giving and we want to recognize them and thank them. We do not question a donor’s beliefs, we simply express our gratitude. In this case, however, the donation brought out deep emotion.   

One of our values, Dignity, ensures that we recognize the inherent worth of all persons and compels us to act toward them within a manner that conveys our understanding of that truth. It is about being respectful to ALL. The Relationships we have, and desire, with our Community Members are foundational to growing trust and legitimacy.  Please know that our actions were not intended to create distrust, and we vow to do better moving forward. We are going to re-evaluate how we receive donations in the future, and we will remain open, and transparent, in how we do so.   

As for the donation and in the spirit of sharing what we have with others, we are opting to donate the food to a true need. We want something positive to come from this experience and that means giving to a worthy cause.   

We thank everyone who took the time to voice their thoughts, and we also thank you for allowing us a day to reflect on the situation. We are not merely giving you words today – we are working to make a lasting change in how we operate so we can move forward together.   We recognize that we are one member of a great Community. 

We will always strive to protect everyone in our community and remain committed to providing the highest quality police service.