Honoring our police officers

There is no doubt that within every profession you will find some people who do not always do the right thing, and the police departments around the nation are no exception. It is extremely important to know and understand that the vast majority of the nearly 700,000 police officers are good people trying to protect our communities. Unfortunately, the mainstream media will almost never highlight all the heroic and positive things that officers do every day, neither will they ever recognize how stressful, dangerous and emotionally draining the profession can be.

Every day, officers run into harm’s way to rescue children from abusive situations, arrest rapists, burglars, arsonists, thieves and murderers, stop drunk drivers from harming themselves or others, help stranded vehicles, respond to domestic disturbance calls, respond to trespassing calls, car accidents, and search for kidnapping victims, just to name a few. There are also countless stories of officers going above and beyond the call of duty by helping people change their tires, mowing elderly people’s lawns, and with their own money, buying lunch or a tank of gas for people who are financially struggling, buying homeless people gloves in the winter, and even buying playground equipment for kids in low-income neighborhoods. For all of these acts, police officers around the nation deserve to be thanked.

That is why I’m proud to present my project, “Coins For Cops,” that seeks to do just that; acknowledge, encourage and recognize police officers for their heroism and service to our communities. I started “Coins for Cops” right here in California after I, like many people, started to feel deeply troubled by the villainization of police officers around the nation and how they were being portrayed in the mainstream media. I noticed a growing sentiment of disrespect, threats and even violence against the men and women tasked with protecting and serving our communities and knew I had to do something to help.

Being a firefighter years ago and working alongside police officers on various calls, I decided that the best way to show my appreciation would be to give each officer a handwritten “Thank You” card and a one-of-a-kind Challenge Coin. So, I immediately got to work, designed a coin and, with the help of amazing family and friends, hand wrote and sealed thousands of cards and envelopes and started “adopting” departments.

So far, I have been able to “adopt” and thank more than 2,500 officers and with my next “adoptions” of the South San Francisco, Tracy and Stockton police departments, scheduled to take place at the beginning of this month, that number will go up to more than 3,300.

I have been blessed to reach a national and international level, with my coins and cards going to officers in California, Vermont, Arizona, Massachusetts, Ohio, Colorado, Florida, Missouri, Arkansas and even Japan! “Coins For Cops” recently delivered to the nearly 800 officers of the Oakland Police Department who were thrilled to receive such an acknowledgment and told me that the kind gesture really helped to boost morale. Through “Coins For Cops,” there is no cost to any officer. All coins and cards are purchased through the help of generous donations from people in the community and every officer receives a coin and card of their own.

In addition to thanking the officers, my goal is to remind people in the communities of just how vital police officers are to our everyday safety and well-being. Without police officers’ heroic efforts to keep us safe every day, our country would not be the amazing place it is.

Rachel Lassman is a writer/researcher and avid volunteer. She is the lead for California School Choice in San Mateo County and the founder of “Coins For Cops.” Rachel was previously a soccer coach and a secondary biology teacher in Washington, Oregon and California, receiving her bachelor’s degree in biology from Eastern Washington University and her master’s in teaching from Concordia University in Portland. To learn more about “Coins for Cops,” and to donate, go to the website coinsforcops.net.