Letter to the Editor
RESIDENT OFFERS THANKS
TO POLICE OFFICER
To Protect and Serve. As a young child, I remember this as the slogan for the police department. I thought this idea was long forgotten until recently, when I met officer Brandon Englert of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
Eight months ago, my wife and I, along with our 16-year-old daughter, moved here from Austin. My daughter, who was an A student, was having problems adjusting to our new city. Her grades dropped, and she began hanging out with the wrong crowd.
She took something that did not belong to her, lied when confronted and refused to write a letter of apology.
I gave her the option to apologize or go to jail. Jail was the option she chose. She had called my bluff, so I called the police to report the theft. I was sent a guardian angel, officer Englert. I explained the situation to him.
He was as concerned about my child as I was.
He spoke to her about the option that she had chosen and explained how that choice could affect the rest of her life.
He then showed her what it’s like to be treated like a criminal.
He placed her in handcuffs, put her in the police car and drove her to the friend’s house, where she was keeping the phone she had stolen.
He then called my wife and I to meet him at the home of the person she stole the phone from to apologize and return it to them. He then released her back to me and my wife and gave us options for places and things in the area to help us with her transition.
In a society where police officers are often unappreciated, my wife and I would like to thank officer Brandon Englert for going above and beyond for my family.
— James and Christine Barnett
Las Vegas
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