David Carroll: Hamilton County Corrections Officer Caught In The Act - And Response (2)

  • Tuesday, July 7, 2015

I was trying to think of the best way to get folks to read this story, and of course, the headline is the most important thing.  Now, what did you think this story would be about?

The headline is accurate, and not at all misleading.  We’re just conditioned to believe that it’s going to be something bad.  You see the photographic evidence at the top of the page, taken by Tabitha Gilbert-Colston, daughter of the couple being helped here.

Hamilton County Corrections Officer Anthony Chavez is in the photo changing a tire for Mike and Belinda Duncan, who had pulled over with a flat tire on the side of Highway 58 last Sunday afternoon.

 Belinda sent me this message:  “I just wanted to issue a pat on the back for young Officer Anthony Chavez as he stopped in his personal car on his way to work .  He asked if my husband and I needed help as we had a flat tire and we said, no thanks our son is on the way. But this young man jumped right in and put the tire on and helped get us going.  We tried to tell him he might be late to work, but he said it was no problem, that he left home early.  He got his pants dirty from being on the ground but he stayed there until we were on the road.  We hear a lot of bad stories on officers but I wanted you to know about this polite man.”

According to Sheriff’s Office records, he has been with the department since April, one of the more recent corrections graduates.  He is 24, and served in the U.S. Army.

His wife Alisha Chavez (also an Army veteran) said, “My husband is an amazing man, and has always gone above and beyond to help people.”  On Facebook she added, “ I just wanted to bring some good attention to our local law enforcement because all I ever see is people on here complaining. I’m tired of seeing everybody cry about how they hate the cops because the cops do their jobs.”

So yes, there are stories about bad cops, bad doctors, bad politicians, and even bad newscasters.  You don’t have to look very far to find those stories.  As I’ve noted before, if we report stories about someone doing a good deed, it gets a handful of views and even fewer responses.  But as soon as something negative is reported, there are clicks galore, and numerous all-caps comments like “LOCK HIM UP FOREVER!” (That’s one of the cleaner examples.)

So if you’ve read this story all the way down to here, and you’re not angry about clicking on a story you thought might be more controversial, let me say thank you.  Thanks also to Officer Anthony Chavez for performing this random act of kindness.  I know you didn’t do it to get attention, but I’m proud to throw a little sunshine your way.  There’s plenty of shade-throwing elsewhere.

And since Belinda Duncan is the person who asked me to share this with you, let me give her the last words, because they’re very important, and they need to be shared: “David, remind drivers to please slow down and move over, if you see someone broke down and working.  Some of the cars got dangerously close to my husband and Officer Chavez.  And remember to give this young man a huge thanks.”

From David Carroll’s ChattanoogaRadioTV.com

 

* * *

I was very happy to read this post and I also have one of my own to tell you about. It happened a few years ago and unfortunately I cannot remember the officer’s name. I was visiting my doctor down at the Diagnostic Center on McCallie Avenue and when going back out to my car, another lady had just pulled into the parking lot and we could hear a kitten making noise from under her car. She had driven from Alabama. The car engine was very hot. We looked and there was a kitten stuck up in the engine and it was one of hers that apparently had traveled the entire way stuck in the engine, amazingly still alive. 

I ran into the building to look for something, like a stick, pole, or something to help me try to prod this kitten out and there was a young Chattanooga City police officer sitting there on guard duty, possibly as a second job, I don’t know. But he sprang into action and came out there and he got up under that car and finally got that kitten out. This took almost an hour because the kitten was very stuck, and it kept trying to get away from him, kept crawling back up in the engine - I guess being scared. It was hot during this time. The pavement was hot. He got his uniform dirty. He did not have to do that. He did not have to go out there and pry that kitten out of the engine, but he did it anyway. Then he got on the phone and got the animal shelter to come and get the kitten because it was injured, dehydrated. 

I was so happy and just appreciated what he had done. I emailed the Chattanooga City police department to let them know what he had done because I felt he deserved to have a pat on the back for saving the kitten. I wish I could remember his name. 

Melissa Lewis

* * *

I wish there was a requirement that the media has to report a good story about the police for every bad one they report.  I'll bet they would find a lot more good stories than bad and it sure would make the news a lot less depressing.

Carolynn Moon


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