Winter Park police program encourages good deeds

Jeff Biles sat quietly at his mother’s bedside at Winter Park Memorial hospital as she recovered from surgery earlier this year. He watched as a nurse cared for all of her post-op needs, the woman attending to his mother with skill and a caring smile.

Visiting his mother’s bedside while off duty, the Winter Park Police Department captain had no reason to expect special treatment for his mother. The nurse, he said, provided exemplary care with no expectation of recognition.

“I was watching this lady and, you know, all nurses are nice and they have a bedside manner,” Biles said. “But this lady, she just went so far out of her way and her character – she was just so nice and so caring and that you could tell that she was just in the perfect job. She had found her niche.”

The care and concern performed by the nurse touched Biles so much that he returned the next day hoping to find the same nurse caring for his mom. He wanted to give her nurse a dark blue wristband inscribed with the words “Actively Caring for People” that is part of the AC4P Policing initiative adopted by the Winter Park Police Department in September 2015. Unfortunately, the same nurse, known only by Biles as Diane, had been scheduled off.

The AC4P Policing initiative came to the attention of Winter Park Police Chief Brett Railey when he attended a leadership course presented by Bobby Kipper, a leadership motivation and development expert. Railey brought the initiative back to the Winter Park Police Department and the department became a model for other agencies to follow.

“The pretext behind this program is that if you see someone doing something good, you give them one of these bracelets,” Biles said.

Each bracelet is inscribed with a serial number, so its journey can be tracked, he said.

“So, if one starts in Winter Park and I give it out, then it goes somewhere else. Every time you write the story about what you have, you put in that serial number and now we’re able to track it,” he said.

Every police officer in the department carries the bands and can give them out when they see a caring act.

“It gives you a chance as an officer to confront a citizen,” Biles said. “You know a lot of times citizens, the only time they deal with an officer is if they get pulled over and it’s a negative connotation or can be because they are getting pulled over by the police. But this gives the police officers a chance to contact somebody in a positive manner and make a friend, if you will.”

Biles said each recipient gets their own dark blue band, and they are given a green one to give to someone else they observe doing a good act.

“I understand that they are showing up in Australia now, and they’ve traveled all over the world,” he said. “It’s kind of like you do a good act and then pay it forward.”

Biles gave out several bands after the Pulse attack when citizens brought in food and water for the officers, and he gave one to Senior Pastor Walter Jackson of the First Baptist Church after the first meeting of a faith-based watch program started by the department.

The department has given out bands to citizens for helping an elderly confused woman, for donating of food to the Seniors First program, for assisting victims at accident scenes, helping homeless families, and for other caring gestures by people in Winter Park.

Biles said he hoped that the nurse, Diane, received her band. He gave it to the nurse caring for his mom the next day and asked her to give it to Diane. Without having her last name, he was unable to verify if she ever received it.

“No, I didn’t leave a contact number or anything. I didn’t do it for me. I just wanted to recognize her,” he said.

Diane Bardwell did receive that band.

“I actually am wearing it,” she said when asked about the band.

“It’s nice when somebody appreciates what you do – the little things,” Bardwell said. “I do that for everybody.”