Hats off to Officer Ahlersmeyer of the Elkhart Sheriff's Department

[wtfd661]

Good encounter! However, why do you want to praise his actions when he did exactly what he was supposed to do?

IMO, I would definitely write the Department but emphasize that he did the correct thing. Don't make it seem like he went above and beyond the call of duty in resolving the situation.

I agree... while it is good that he did not abuse your rights, should we give them praise like its something special.

Kind of the same way when a mechanic does a good job fixing your car, or when you have someone else perform a service for you and they do it in a good professional way do you not say thank you and then if you felt like you received good service recommend them to others. Why do you feel that a Police Officer, who the OP felt did them a good service should not be praised in the same way. Or is it because it was a Police Officer you think they shouldn't be thanked publicly.

 

[Expat]

Being in management, it is also nice to get positive feedback about an employee. Especially given that the only people that are usually motivated to contact someone's boss is ticked off.

 

[JoshuaW]

thats what i was thinking. its a sad state of affairs when we have to make a big deal out of a cop doing what they should. encounters like this should be the norm. but these days it is very rare that encounters go this way.

I agree... while it is good that he did not abuse your rights, should we give them praise like its something special.

While I dont think officers need to go to the measures they do sometimes, I personally do respect where they are coming from. While it has not happened to me yet, but if an officer insists on removing my firearm, I have no problem with that (to an extent, taking it to their car would upset me, dis-assembly, unloading, etc are all worse). When I read these "bad encounters" I dont normally find them terrible. Unpleasant, yes. Worth expressing your displeasure to both the department and your fellow gun owners? Sure. The end of the world? No way. The ones I cant stand are the ones where an officer goes way beyond what is needed for their safety, causes damage, or endangers someone.

So while every encounter should be like mine, I still consider it a good encounter. He did his job, he did it professionally, and he did it pleasantly. Those are all winners in my book.

Also, thanks again everyone for the good luck concerning my car. They towed it yesterday, and gave me a rental on Wednesday. It does sound like they will total it out, but my agent is confident in their ability to actually locate this guy, which means they will be more likely pay a reasonable settlement, since they can seek a return from him. At this point I am in no hurry. I have the rental, and my insurance company (USAA, for anyone who is curious) made sure to not put a millage restriction on it since I work in Plymouth, and they didnt put a limit on how long I can keep it, just "24 hours after a settlement has been accepted".

 

[public servant]

I think we should all make up some INGO cards we can hand out to good police officers so they can get on here.

There goes the neighborhood.

 

[finity]

Also, thanks again everyone for the good luck concerning my car. They towed it yesterday, and gave me a rental on Wednesday. It does sound like they will total it out, but my agent is confident in their ability to actually locate this guy, which means they will be more likely pay a reasonable settlement, since they can seek a return from him. At this point I am in no hurry. I have the rental, and my insurance company (USAA, for anyone who is curious) made sure to not put a millage restriction on it since I work in Plymouth, and they didnt put a limit on how long I can keep it, just "24 hours after a settlement has been accepted".

Auto insurance is a scam.

You are required to have it by law. Then when you need to use it they try to screw you around & act like they are doing you a favor by doing something that you are PAYING them to do, namely fixing your car or IOW, "making you whole" again. After that they screw you again long-term by raising your rates because you DARED ask them to do what you were paying them to do in the first place. That's if they don't decide to just drop you in the first place.

Whether they find the guy or not should have nothing to do with the settlement they give you. They should just look at the replacement value of your car & either fix it or give you the money to replace it. That should be the only consideration. Insurance companies already make enough profit without (legally) screwing over the people who they make those profits off of.

 

[JoshuaW]

Auto insurance is a scam.

You are required to have it by law. Then when you need to use it they try to screw you around & act like they are doing you a favor by doing something that you are PAYING them to do, namely fixing your car or IOW, "making you whole" again. After that they screw you again long-term by raising your rates because you DARED ask them to do what you were paying them to do in the first place. That's if they don't decide to just drop you in the first place.

Whether they find the guy or not should have nothing to do with the settlement they give you. They should just look at the replacement value of your car & either fix it or give you the money to replace it. That should be the only consideration. Insurance companies already make enough profit without (legally) screwing over the people who they make those profits off of.

The other car I had totaled out was easy, I was working with her insurance. Insurance only feels like a scam when they shouldnt have to pay up. My company doesnt want to pay up, they would rather make him pay. If he will repay my company, my company can give me more cash.

You are not required to insure your vehicle, you are required to have insurance in the event you damage another vehicle, so the other person can get their vehicle repaired.

 

[finity]

The other car I had totaled out was easy, I was working with her insurance.

You're lucky then. Most times the insurance company doesn't want to pay & will fight tooth & nail if it is over a couple thousand dollars.

I have a friend who was rear-ended sitting in a 35 mph zone waiting to make a left turn. The person who hit her was speeding. She cracked several vertebrae & blew out several discs in her back. She is in constant pain & walks with a serious limp. She won't be able to do any serious work ever again.

She & her husband fought the other insurance company for several years to get them to pay for their medical (past & future). It even took almost a year for them to get the settlement for just the vehicle. They only got about half of what a replacement would cost.

As for the medical bills they finally paid them but for pain & suffering, future loss of income & future medical bills she got a grand total of $5000.

Insurance only feels like a scam when they shouldnt have to pay up. My company doesnt want to pay up, they would rather make him pay. If he will repay my company, my company can give me more cash.

That's all well & good but if the other guy doesn't have insurance then you are paying the insurance company to step in & take care of it...whether they like it or not. It's in the contract. It's called "uninsured/underinsured motorist". At that point, I'll say it again, it shouldn't matter what they WANT to do. The only thing that should matter is the value of your vehicle to either get repaired or replaced.

The whole concept of them "helping the best they could" is just silly. YOU ARE IN A CONTRACT TOGETHER. The insurance company isn't broke.

You are not required to insure your vehicle, you are required to have insurance in the event you damage another vehicle, so the other person can get their vehicle repaired.

True. But if you do get insurance on your own vehicle (comp & collision - there's that pesky contract thing again) & have to file a claim they still won't want to pay & will likely raise your rates.

How many people do you know that won't make a claim against their insurance if it's not a huge loss for fear that they will raise their rates? So, they have you over a barrel. Either you take the hit now & not make a claim (even though you're already paying them for the service) or you take a bigger hit in the future by paying increased rates.

Nope. That doesn't sound like a scam to me either.

Most people can't self-insure, either. So in most peoples case, it is effectively required by law to pay the insurance company.

 

[rockhopper46038]

As for drivers without insurance, about two months ago my parents were hit by an [strike]undocumented immigrant[/strike] illegal alien with no insurance. Its a crappy situation. Our insurance company helped them as best they could, but we still got stuck with $1,000 in hospital bills (my sister wound up with a broken wrist) and pennies on the dollar for the car. I sure hope mine goes much better than that.

There. Fixed it for ya.

 

[abrumlev]

Does this sound better for commending the officer?

Write the officer's boss/chief of police and express clearly that you were very impressed with the officer and that you want him/her to relay this situation on to the other police officers. Also you would hope that the chief could praise the officer's actions in front of everyone. That way he is still recognized (by his boss, +1 for officer) and the other officers will hear about a good encounter with a gun carrying citizen (from his boss, +1 society).

 

[Bunnykid68]

+1 for the Sheriff's department. Good to hear about the good ones too.