Have you come across a police officer you wanted to thank for going above and beyond to help you out, or maybe it's been the opposite, where you didn't agree with an officer?
Well one web site, known as "Ratemycop.com," allows you to rate the work of Police Officers here in Abilene. Here in Abilene, most of the Police were unaware of the site.
"Until about five minutes ago, I didn't know how I rated," admits Lt. David Watkins.
"I've never seen this before, I mean I heard about when it hit the news," says Sgt. Lynn Beard.
"Initially, I was intrigued," says Assistant Chief Stan Standridge.
After they took a look at the run down of categories, from authority, to fairness, and even satisfaction. They were amused with their rankings. "It made me smile," laughs Lt. Watkins. As for Sgt. Beard he points out, "First of all, I appreciate you bringing this to my attention. I didn't know I had gotten all negative remarks."
When I asked them what they felt would warrant such a rating, Lt. Watkins, a 29 year veteran, joked, "It's probably not my great charm."
Sgt. Beard speculated his negative marks may have been influenced by an arrest he made, "It's difficult to know whether there is something I need to do different because I don't know who it is, and I don't know what it's about."
As for Assistant Chief Standridge he claims, "It's just a good thing I'm not rated."
However, they go on to say that they don't get too caught up with these anonymous ratings. "On an anonymous, blog-type, website it really doesn't mean much," says Lt. Watkins, adding most of their encounters with the public are not always favorable. "Most times the Police aren't welcome, so half of the people like you to be there, and the other half generally don't."
However, by the end of the day, many people at the station were already buzzing about the rankings on the site. As for what can be done to file a real complaint, APD says there is a system in place that allows people to do so, and those complaints are investigated.
As for the web site, go to: ratemycop.com
