Thanking Officer Hammond & His Numerous Associates

WCF Stands up unequivocally for Officer Hammond of the OPD.

Covering the crime beat has never really been our news niche here at Weber County Forum, but we're going to make a small exception here. As our regular readers already know, we're staunch supporters of Ogden's Finest. And on Monday night, at Trolley Square in Salt Lake City, Officer Ken Hammond showcased, for all the world to see, the courage and dedication to public service which we believe pervades our entire Ogden Police Department. We had the honor of meeting scores of Ogden City police officers last summer, during the notorious Vangate brouhaha; and if one theme constantly rang through for us in these meetings, it was the high level of idealism, public service motivation and law enforcement professionalism which was present in every officer we met.

During the course of the numererous newspaper stories and video-taped interviews we've all witnessed on this topic during the past three days, Officer Hammond has consistently revealed himself as the reluctant hero -- the off-duty policeman who merely did his duty -- just as any other police officer would have done. In this manner Officer Hammond gives his brother and sister officers a strong vote of confidence, a tribute which we believe to be well-deserved. It's clear that he believes that any other conscientious fellow officer would have displayed similar heroism, under different fact-sets. Having gotten to know numerous other highly-conscientious OPD officers in recent months, we'll forthrightly say we agree with him.

By this we do not mean to detract from Officer Hammond's individual accomplishment. He is truly an individual hero, in our view. Unlike the Std-Ex editors, we see no point in roundabout rhetorical exercise. To have retreated to a defensive posture within the restaurant where he'd just eaten would have been an entirely acceptable course of action under the circumstances. Taking the offensive, as he did, was a truly heroic act.

Ken Hammond is a genuine hero; and we thank and congratulate him for his courage and dedication to duty.

Having said that, we're going to offer our thanks to some of the other folks who we believe contributed to Officer Hammond's Monday night yeoman effort. In this we'll cast a broad net. There's plenty of vicarious credit to go around, we think:

• Officer Hammond's lovely wife, who had the presence of mind to contact the SLCPD, and guide them to the combat zone;
• Officer Hammond's fellow brother and sister OPD officers, who serve with him on a daily basis, providing ongoing inspiration and cameraderie;
• Management level OPD staff, who somehow succeed in recruiting, training and retaining dedicated folks like Officer Hammond, in spite of the lousy pay and difficult working conditions. Yes, this would include Chief Greiner, whom we will not expect, judging from recent video clips, ever to master the subtle art of appearing either warm, fuzzy or cuddly on camera.

And what about Mayor Godfrey you ask? After all, he sits at the apex of the chain of command.

Yeah -- we caught those TV images Wednesday night, with Boss Godfrey grinning, preening and repeatedly nodding at the cameras. Somehow we can't wipe out last summer's lingering mental images, from a time when The Scowling Boss of Emerald City was busily -- and mean-spiritedly we think -- trying to stick a cheap-skate pay-plan to Officer Hammond and his public safety colleagues. And as ever-gentle regular reader Curmudgeon might offer on this topic regarding Boss Godfrey: "Further [this] deponent sayeth not."

And what say our gentle readers? Did we leave anybody out?

Feel free to use this thread to offer your further comments, kudos or critiques on the Officer Hammond topic. We think this story has definite legs.