Sgt. Dan Spjut
Police
With Hurricane Rita aiming for Houston, Natalie Bruno, a third-year student at The University of Texas School of Medicine, was cut off from the nearest evacuation route, wrote her father, Dr. Felice Bruno.
Alone and frightened, she called police for help. Sgt. Dan Spjut stayed on the phone with her while she found safety in a downtown warehouse with friends.
“His calm demeanor and instructions were reassuring,” Bruno wrote. “His professionalism is a very positive reflection of your department.”
Craig Matthew
Police
The victim testified for the defense in a domestic violence trial, wrote Heyward Carter, Harris County assistant district attorney.
“But on the stand, Officer Craig Matthew’s testimony was unambiguous and concise, leaving jurors with a firm impression of the events and countering the lack of photographs or medical records,” Carter wrote. “Officer Matthew displayed calm professionalism in the face of difficult questioning.”
The jury, impressed by his straightforward style and lack of embellishment, convicted the man, Carter wrote.
Sgt. Bobby Roberts
Police
Sgt. Bobby Roberts made the most terrifying experience of her life easier to cope with by restoring her sense of safety and security, wrote Nicole Schrader. Roberts’ testimony was also the key that locked up the man who assaulted her.
“I honestly feel that if it weren’t for Sgt. Roberts, the person who terrorized and violated me would still be a free man, a danger to me and many other women,” Schrader wrote. “My case wasn’t an easy one, and had it not been for Sgt. Roberts’ attention to detail and impeccable organization, we would not have been able to prove the defendant’s guilt in the eyes of the jury.”
Roberts showed he cared about her as much as he cared about winning the case, Schrader wrote. “I never doubted that the investigation was in anything less than the best of hands.
“If there were more people with the work ethic and compassion of Sgt. Bobby Roberts, the world would be a much safer place.”
L. R. Hines
Police
James Steele’s 83-year-old father-in-law, Burgess Trank, was cut off by another car in traffic. Trank stomped on the brakes to avoid hitting the car, but his own car slammed into the curb and blew out a tire, Steele wrote.
Afraid of being stranded in a strange place in a bad part of town, Trank drove the car home on the flattened tire. “There, I convinced him to file a report in case the other driver filed one,” Steele wrote.
Trank’s memory isn’t as strong as it once was, Steele wrote, but Officer L.R. Hines was patient and understanding.
“That meant a lot to me,” Steele wrote. “You made what could have been an upsetting situation for us one that put us at ease.
“You don’t know how much I appreciate your professionalism. You are a credit to the police department.”
V.M. Peterson
Police
After getting off work at 10 p.m., Tracie Mullens picks up her son from daycare and then goes home. On the best of nights, the lengthy walk from the parking lot to her second-story apartment frightens Mullens. But one night, that trip ended with an even more worrying sight: Her deadbolt was locked from the inside, the blinds to her sliding glass door were open, and her lights were off.
She always leaves one light on, never opens those blinds, and she and her son live alone, she wrote.
“I was locked out of my own home in the cold with my 18-month-old son, it was late and I was scared,” she wrote. Her son was tired, hungry and needed a diaper change.
She called 911 and hunkered down for a long wait. After all, there didn’t appear to be any immediate danger, so she thought she’d be a lower priority on the list of police calls.
But within 20 minutes, Officer V.M. Peterson called her cell phone and asked her how she was doing, Mullins wrote. Although this was not his district, he was the closest officer to the scene. He told her he was finishing up another case and would be there in 10 minutes.
He arrived seven minutes later.
“I cannot tell you how happy I was to see someone there so quickly,” Mullens wrote. “It was absolutely freezing and my son was shivering.”
Peterson jumped onto the patio balcony, walked through the unlocked sliding glass door, and into the apartment. In a few minutes, he told her that it was safe and it appeared nothing had been stolen. He waited while she went through the apartment and confirmed that all her possessions were there.
“It seems the intruders just wanted to hang out and watch T.V.,” Mullens wrote.
Peterson gave Mullins safety tips and then had her lock him out of the apartment while he tried to break in through the sliding glass door to see how sturdy it was.
“To any police officer, this call would probably be considered run-of-the-mill,” Mullens wrote. “But to my son and me, it was very scary. Officer Peterson made me feel important and that my time was not a waste of his.
“To Officer Peterson, thank you very, very much. Your compassion and honest concern for your community shows through in your work. I feel much safer knowing that you are protecting my community.”