I had my first encounter with Captain Robert Bice just a few days after I moved in, but it was just the first of many opportunities to deal with him. I was so impressed with his dedication to service that I commended him by name to Phil at DevCo (the owner of Heatherwood), twice to Charito, once to each of the other managers (all at the same time) and even took the extra step to send a letter to his supervisor. What follows is the letter I sent, and the response that followed.
Dear Tony Myhre and Whatcom Security Agency,
A few days ago I had the misfortune of witnessing an unpleasant event taking place just outside my bedroom window at Heatherwood Apartments in Mill Creek, Washington. I woke to voices yelling and saw two of your officers doing their best to subdue a most unruly individual.
The officer in control of the situation was Robert Bice, and I could not have been more impressed with his demeanor, professionalism and restraint. I was a security officer twice myself, but I was the “other” kind. I was a reactive officer; Robert Bice is a proactive officer.
My second night living in this apartment, he saw me sitting in my car at a late hour and asked me if I was alright or needed anything. He also pointed out my expired tabs (which I had bought but not yet taken out of my glove box.) All I could think was that when I was an officer, and I stopped a person, I never even thought to look at the plate or the tabs.
What’s important is how he acted with the person on the night when he was elbowed in the face. He warned the guy, tried to convince him to do surrender, warned that he would taze the individual, and even still he showed tremendous restraint, truly to the point of risking his own well being (as his cheek soon showed).
This was not a person conspicuously misbehaving, but one he knew from his own logs as a non-resident and known drug criminal. This tells me that your service is better than adequate, and far better than average. This tells me that my apartment complex is much safer than it would be under the watch of any security service.
Robert Bice is an exceptional representative of your agency, a dedicated security officer, and exactly the sort of person who can actually make this a safer, more secure place to live. He is well-spoken, diplomatic, friendly at appropriate times, loud when his safety and the reputation of your agency is on the line, and exhibits a keen understanding of the law and community, as well as his place in the law and the community.
If you need to reach me (to confirm these details or otherwise,) please call 206-226-7988 or email glossynews@gmail.com. I will send a similar letter of praise to the management here at Heatherwood Apartments on your behalf, and I hope my letter of praise gets as much appreciation as I’ve given it in sincerity.
Sincerely,
Brian K. White
Tenant
What follows is the response I received from his supervisor, Tony:
I truly thank you for your well written and thought out letter regarding Captain Bice. This will be inserted in to his personnel file, and forwarded to our corporate office in Bellingham for the information of our company President. We as a whole are truly committed to the care, welfare, safety and security of yours and the other communities that we patrol, and I’m very pleased to hear positive feed back from a tenant with respect to the conduct of my Officers while they are under fire. This is reassuring, and demonstrative of the levels of training and experience that we demand in our hiring processes, and training programs we conduct in house. Please feel free to contact me should have any additional information or comments. TRM
Tony R. Myhre
Director – Quality Control
Tags: cautious, commendation, guard, heatherwood, impressive, officer, security, watch dog