By Matt Pouncy

MHPS officer goes the extra mile for birthday

Jul 19, 2018 | 5:28 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — Members of the Medicine Hat Police Service work every day to keep the streets we live on safe, but earlier this week, one officer went the extra mile when it came to celebrating a birthday.

Brenda Ruckaber, owner of Fresh Flowers and Gifts, prepares flowers everyday, and for every bouquet she creates, there’s a story to go with it.

“He was just real sweet.  He was just a real sweet guy doing a real sweet thing and you know hats off to him,” said Ruckaber.

That sweet guy was a police officer. He was picking up flowers after responding to a call to check on the welfare of an elderly woman whose family had not been able to reach her.

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When the officer went in he found the woman’s phone was unplugged and she was just fine.

It turns out it was also her 91st birthday, and the sweet gesture prompted Ruckaber to share the story online.

“Flower shops hold all sorts of stories of all sorts of customers, and this one was just really sweet,” said Ruckaber. “I thought people should know what a sweet guy he was, but within the realm of an amenity. Just as a nice story needed to be told.”

The officer wishes to remain anonymous, but his actions are attracting a lot of attention.

In less than 24 hours, the post had already been shared over 150 times and has reached around 12,000 people.

Ruckaber says she didn’t share the story for recognition, but to show what an outstanding officer did in our community.

“We need to know that they are our friends, I mean they’re there to protect us, but they’re there to help the little old ladies too, right. They’re a part of our community, and we should celebrate them as part of our community and what they do for us.”

Inspector Brent Secondiak with the Medicine Hat Police Service says actions like this go a long way to creating positive relationships in the community.

“I think we get better contact with the police when we do things like this, engage with the community.  It’s great for the police service but our officers have done this for years,” said Secondiak.

He made it clear that this is something officers are doing on their own.

“They do it because it’s the right thing to do, not because they have to,” said Secondiak. “So again we’re members of the community we want to engage with the community as much as we can.”

All while showing it’s the little things that can make a big difference in someone else’s day.