Many reasons to say thank you to Sleepy Hollow police

A couple weeks ago, a letter to the editor from a member of a neighboring village complimented our village in general and the Sleepy Hollow Service Club in particular. The writer was. however, not as impressed by our police department. As a resident, feel compelled to respond. Sure, people who exceed the speed limit on our roads might get a ticket but that's true in all our towns; I know that to be true in Gilberts from personal experience.

The Sleepy Hollow police force consists of seven full-time officers including police chief Jim Montalbano, who has been with the force since 1974. In 1995, he was selected from police chiefs all over the nation to attend the National FBI Academy. We also have 10 part-time officers. Some of them are newer and some like Jim Fleck and Ken Seyller have been with the force since 1989 and every single officer takes seriously his or her responsibility to protect and defend our community.

In the movies and on TV, you see police officers in car chases and shootouts, but in real life these occurrences are rare. Our police can do that but they also protect in quieter ways that show their humanity but don't make headlines.

A couple of years ago, my husband took two of our youngest grandsons to the park; one in a stroller and the other on his first two-wheeler with training wheels. As they were walking home, one of those sudden summer storms erupted filled with rain, lightning and thunder. Happily, one of our police cars was making its rounds and spotted a slightly frazzled grandpa with two screaming youngsters. The officer stopped his car and loaded bike and stroller in the trunk and a grateful grandpa and boys in the back seat and drove them home. I'm only sorry that I don't know that officer's name.

I do know one officer, Sgt. Sue Wilson, who took special care of our elderly neighbor who was becoming increasingly confused and whose family lived far away. Sgt. Wilson checked on her daily and informed us when she needed special help. She also discovered that the neighbor had not paid her taxes and was in danger of losing her home. We were able to get in touch with her family so that payment could be made. On one of the officer's drive-bys she found the neighbor, soaked to the skin, washing her driveway in the winter. She brought her over so we could get her changed and warmed up. Sgt. Wilson and the other officers made our neighbor a priority until her family came and made arrangements for her.

I'm sure every Sleepy Hollow resident has a story that they can tell about the care and concern of our police officers. As Thanksgiving draws near, on behalf of my fellow residents, I would like to say thank you to Chief Jim Montalbano and full-time officers Sgt. Sue Wilson, Gretchen Fehling, Gerry Nordan, Mike Gallagher, Shane Christenson and Rob Zieman; and part-time officers Jim Fleck, Ken Seyller, Rick Nelson, Steve Rodebeck, Anthony Mader, Kit O'Reilly, Bryan Miller, Paul Shipley and newest officers Ricardo Hernandez and Neil Reyes. Thanks, too, to the chief's secretary Becky Freemon, who helped me with this information.

There is another way you could thank them. A great way to support our police is by donating to the "Shop with a Cop" program. Last year, along with four other police departments, 110 local needy children took part in this program. Each child enjoyed breakfast, a visit from Santa, a Wal-Mart shopping spree and a holiday food basket.

If you are feeling really generous, you could join Sleepy Hollow Police in support of the Illinois Special Olympics Torch Run by buying a limited edition 50th anniversary collectible die cast 1/24-scale model squad car. They are $50 each and are available at the Sleepy Hollow Police Station. For details, visit shpd.org.