On the evening of January 27, I had settled into a favourite program on TV, when there was a strong knock on my front door. It scared me a bit, since normally the doorbell is used.
I went to the door, peeked through the window, and saw an officer standing on my front step. It startled me to see him there.
Officers at your front door never usually means good news. I opened the door, expecting bad news, and was surprised when the officer said, “Your garage door is open.”
He went on to explain that he was doing a community check and noted the open garage door. I was very grateful for his visit as it saved me from possible loss of golf clubs and other valuables stored in my garage.
As well, the door which I use to access the garage from the inside of my house was unlocked. If I had gone to bed, my opened garage door would have been a welcome opportunity to theft, possible entry into my home, and/or harm to myself.
With the officer still standing there, I told him I was concerned about a vehicle, across the way, on an acreage, which the head lights were on for nearly four hours.
I told him I was concerned that perhaps the owner may have come to some harm. Following my directions the officer drove over to see why the vehicle had its lights on for so long.
He was able to make contact with the owner of the vehicle, who told him he had left the vehicle running because his battery was low and wanted to charge it. The owner, too, was grateful for the visit as he had forgotten that he had left the vehicle was running.
The officer came back to my home, explained the vehicle situation and the man thanked him. The officer said it was a lady across the way who alerted him of the issue.
I said, “You helped me, I helped another neighbour, and because of you the world is a better place,” I thanked him again and asked his name.
Thank you Const. Chris, of Carstairs, for keeping me and our community a safe and better place. I’m grateful to you for your service.
Julian Ross,
Didsbury
