Commendation of HPD Officer Hunt

[SteyrM40]

Hello all,

A few weeks ago a CHL friend of mine was harassed by a DPS Trooper near Victoria. The way he described things left a pretty sour taste in my mouth. Not to mention the horror stories I read on PDO about officers returning disassembled guns to people in trash baggies, having a traffic stop turn into a felony stop, etc.

Now, I told you that to tell you this...

The other night, there was another incident near my home (I live in the Galleria area). This time someone shot at my car with a BB gun or a pellet gun. It left a hell of a mark in the metal and is probably going to cost quite a bit to fix (frankly, it would have probably been cheaper had they hit a window).

Anyway... I kept on driving, made a call to HPD, and went back to get an incident report for insurance purposes. Everything went A-OK when it came time to produce my CHL, so I authored this nice letter to the HPD Chief (I will also CC Officer Hunt's substation supervisor).

May 6, 2006

Chief of Police Harold L. Hurtt
Houston Police Department
1200 Travis, Suite #1600
Houston, TX 77002-6006

Re: Commendation of Officer Hunt, Unit # 18G25E

Dear Chief Hurtt,

I am writing to offer my sincere thanks and praise for Officer Hunt’s courtesy and professionalism the night of Saturday, May 7, 2006. At around 21:45 I made a call to HPD informing them of criminal activity at 2650 Yorktown in Houston (incident report ########). An individual in that apartment complex shot at and damaged my car[1] as I was driving southbound on Yorktown.

Within minutes, Officer Hunt and two other units were on scene to investigate the matter. Wanting to get an incident report for my insurance company, I returned to the scene to speak with an officer. I was first approached by Officer Hunt, who had a look at my vehicle and confirmed that someone had indeed shot the rear passenger-side quarter panel.

Of particular interest to my particular situation, was the point at which Officer Hunt took down my personal information for the incident report. I am a Concealed Handgun Licensee, and pursuant to Texas Government Code §411.205, when asked to provide the officer with identification, I presented both my Texas Driver License and my Texas Concealed Handgun License. This was my first formal encounter[2] with the Houston Police Department in which I was required to present my CHL to a peace officer.

Officer Hunt looked at both IDs, took down the pertinent information from my driver license[3], and handed me back my paperwork. At no time was I questioned about my weapon, and more importantly, at not time was I asked to disarm. As a person who has passed numerous background checks and training for concealed weapons permits from six different states, I was pleased that Officer Hunt treated me as the responsible and law-abiding citizen that I am.

As you may or may not be aware, some departments and agencies make it a policy to harass law-abiding Concealed Handgun Licensees. I can see that HPD officers are being properly trained in dealing with CHL holders, and I would like to also offer my sincerest thanks and praise to you for ensuring that this is and remains the policy of the Houston Police Department.[4]

Thank you for taking your time to read this letter, and more importantly, thank you to you and your officers for your invaluable service to the City of Houston.

Sincerely,

[1] I purposefully did not mention the type of weapon used. I want whoever is reading the letter to look up the incident report number, and I figure that is one way to entice them.
[2] I have had several informal encounters with HPD officers where we shoot the breeze and talk guns, CHLs, etc. All very positive.
[3] He did not write down anything from my CHL.
[4] Okay, so I don't know if that is actual policy, but I think you know why I wrote that there.

Another aside: when I mentioned the incident in which someone followed me home from the bank, Officer Hunt's reply to me was "Did you have your piece with you?" I took his response and general body language as an indication of being at ease with me.

As you can tell, I like writing. I won't mail this off until Monday around noon, in case you guys have any suggestions.

Thanks. Stay safe...

SteyrM40

PS) I think the increased crimimal mischief in the Galleria area may warrant a separate thread. I have convinced several friends (some real big former antis!) and relatives (including my own mother) who live in the same area to get CHLs. I've been spending a lot of time (and money) at the range.

[txinvestigator]

Nice letter. LEO's are always thankful for kind words.

I am curious how your friend was harassed.

[TxFire]

Good letter overall. It is always nice to get a ctizen letter of thanks, in my case that get filed in our personell file. So it is nice to have.
The only change I might make is to the next to last paragraph. I would change "departments and adencies" to "some officers". My reason for this is that I am most certain that NO agency makes it a "policy" to harass law-abiding citizens, though an individual officer might indeed make it HIS personal policy. Minor detail, but an important distinction I think.

[Paladin]

Glad to hear your contact with the HPD went well!

[Kalrog]

Comment:

The sentence just after note number 3 - the word not is used where the word no should be used.

Otherwise, I am glad it went so well.

[Skipper5]

Hello all,

A few weeks ago a CHL friend of mine was harassed by a DPS Trooper near Victoria. The way he described things left a pretty sour taste in my mouth. Not to mention the horror stories I read on PDO about officers returning disassembled guns to people in trash baggies, having a traffic stop turn into a felony stop, etc.

Now, I told you that to tell you this...

The other night, there was another incident near my home (I live in the Galleria area). This time someone shot at my car with a BB gun or a pellet gun. It left a hell of a mark in the metal and is probably going to cost quite a bit to fix (frankly, it would have probably been cheaper had they hit a window).

Anyway... I kept on driving, made a call to HPD, and went back to get an incident report for insurance purposes. Everything went A-OK when it came time to produce my CHL, so I authored this nice letter to the HPD Chief (I will also CC Officer Hunt's substation supervisor).

May 6, 2006

Chief of Police Harold L. Hurtt
Houston Police Department
1200 Travis, Suite #1600
Houston, TX 77002-6006

Re: Commendation of Officer Hunt, Unit # 18G25E

Dear Chief Hurtt,

I am writing to offer my sincere thanks and praise for Officer Hunt’s courtesy and professionalism the night of Saturday, May 7, 2006. At around 21:45 I made a call to HPD informing them of criminal activity at 2650 Yorktown in Houston (incident report ########). An individual in that apartment complex shot at and damaged my car[1] as I was driving southbound on Yorktown.

Within minutes, Officer Hunt and two other units were on scene to investigate the matter. Wanting to get an incident report for my insurance company, I returned to the scene to speak with an officer. I was first approached by Officer Hunt, who had a look at my vehicle and confirmed that someone had indeed shot the rear passenger-side quarter panel.

Of particular interest to my particular situation, was the point at which Officer Hunt took down my personal information for the incident report. I am a Concealed Handgun Licensee, and pursuant to Texas Government Code §411.205, when asked to provide the officer with identification, I presented both my Texas Driver License and my Texas Concealed Handgun License. This was my first formal encounter[2] with the Houston Police Department in which I was required to present my CHL to a peace officer.

Officer Hunt looked at both IDs, took down the pertinent information from my driver license[3], and handed me back my paperwork. At no time was I questioned about my weapon, and more importantly, at not time was I asked to disarm. As a person who has passed numerous background checks and training for concealed weapons permits from six different states, I was pleased that Officer Hunt treated me as the responsible and law-abiding citizen that I am.

As you may or may not be aware, some departments and agencies make it a policy to harass law-abiding Concealed Handgun Licensees. I can see that HPD officers are being properly trained in dealing with CHL holders, and I would like to also offer my sincerest thanks and praise to you for ensuring that this is and remains the policy of the Houston Police Department.[4]

Thank you for taking your time to read this letter, and more importantly, thank you to you and your officers for your invaluable service to the City of Houston.

Sincerely,

[1] I purposefully did not mention the type of weapon used. I want whoever is reading the letter to look up the incident report number, and I figure that is one way to entice them.
[2] I have had several informal encounters with HPD officers where we shoot the breeze and talk guns, CHLs, etc. All very positive.
[3] He did not write down anything from my CHL.
[4] Okay, so I don't know if that is actual policy, but I think you know why I wrote that there.

Another aside: when I mentioned the incident in which someone followed me home from the bank, Officer Hunt's reply to me was "Did you have your piece with you?" I took his response and general body language as an indication of being at ease with me.

As you can tell, I like writing. I won't mail this off until Monday around noon, in case you guys have any suggestions.

Thanks. Stay safe...

SteyrM40

PS) I think the increased crimimal mischief in the Galleria area may warrant a separate thread. I have convinced several friends (some real big former antis!) and relatives (including my own mother) who live in the same area to get CHLs. I've been spending a lot of time (and money) at the range.

Nice letter SteyrM40....I think it's always a class-act taking the time to recognize exemplary service! Good show!

[Boma]

I wrote a letter to the Sherrif's Department a few months ago. They replied back with a letter appreciating my gesture. I told them the guy should be promoted, etc. etc.

I'm sure your letter will positively affect someone!!! It also makes them want to serve you better!

Most people are not honest to cops and do not show any appreciation. When you do it's like a breath of fresh air to them.

[Commander]

I too, am curious as to how your friend was harrassed. Can you provide some details?

[KBCraig]

Be careful when writing letters. Even though you mean to commend the officer, you could very well get him in trouble. For example, I wouldn't point out to his superiors anything that can be construed as "cutting a break" for anyone. Even without knowing it, you could be informing them that the officer failed to follow their policy.

Instead of being specific, be complimentary but vague.

This:
"Officer Jones recently stopped me for a traffic violation. At all times, he was professional and courteous, and displayed a great deal of concern for my safety."

...is better than this:
"Officer Jones stopped me for speeding, expired registration, and one headlight burned out. Even though I didn't have proof of insurance, he let me go with a warning when I promised to fix the headlight and get insurance next payday."

I think it's obvious why the second example could get the officer in hot water. Many departments expect officers to strictly enforce certain laws. You don't want to put him in a bad spot by thanking him for not doing what he's been told to do.

Kevin

[SteyrM40]

txinvestigator & S&W6946,

I am working on getting my friend to come post his story on this board. I don't like telling other people's stories, as I wasn't there and therefore feel that I cannot accurately relate what transpired.

Once he gets signed-up, I will ask him to go post in the LEO Contacts section. At worst, I will just get him to e-mail the story to me and I will repost it here.

Stay safe...

SteyrM40

[jclif1995]

I've handed my CHL to a responding police officer on a couple of occasions. After a quick look, it was returned and i was advised they didn't need to see "that", went about police business, provided me the necessary report number, then departed. Seems some LEOs are not interested at all whether one has a CHL and could be armed. I think that actions may tell them all they need to know.