The time: An hour or so ago.
The place: Compo Beach.
The situation: A woman zoomed past the entrance gate, pulled into a spot near the pavilion, and began yelling incoherently.
The police arrived. She was clearly emotionally disturbed. In fact, she said she had not taken her medications.
Two officers talked to her. She rolled up the window. She refused to get out of her car.
Another officer arrived. Calmly, patiently, firmly — yet with compassion, empathy, care and plenty of professionalism — they continued talking.
They asked about her family. They asked about her home. They asked about her meds.
Eventually, she calmed down. After many more minutes, they got her into an ambulance, headed for help.
I am sure the Westport police see similar situations like this, many times a week.
Westporters like us seldom do.
At a time when police-civilian relationships are rocky, in many places around the country, it’s nice to see an encounter like this.
It probably was not remarkable to the officers in charge. It may have been all in a day’s work.
But it opened my eyes wide to the job our Westport cops do, every day.
And do so well.