Unwavering support for Houston police captain

To the editor:

I have been employed with the Houston Police Department since May 2010. My position has been developed over time to advance from clerical aide to support services clerk, and with stringent background investigation by the state and federal agencies have now advanced to support services/terminal security officer and grant writer.

With great pleasure and pride I serve this police department, Capt. McAnally and this city. I am a mature woman who has had 45 years of employment, and in all of that life I have had no positive experience that can measure up to the experience I have had here.

Capt. McAnally has respected me and conducted himself in a professional manner on every occasion and every day in this office. He has guided me, and the officers, to open doors of training and advanced professionalism by holding the department personnel to the same high standards he aspires to. I have been valued for my achievements and trusted by my officers to provide for them the administrative duties for their court cases and the criminal background information that is necessary for this community’s safety and the safety of officers in the field. I have had the opportunity to train the support staff and allow them to feel welcome, needed and valued as Capt. McAnally has made me feel.

Capt. McAnally is a man who bonds a team together and strengthens it by believing in the intrinsic ability of people to strive to educate and advance themselves regardless of age, physical ability or past experience. He sees that respecting people is a small measure for all that is returned in kind. He has exhibited on several occasions his compassion for the developmentally disabled and acceptance of all people from every walk of life, culture or economic standing. I have heard from victims, perpetrators of crime, concerned citizens and those with whom he has interacted in committees and training, and on every occasion the response has been overwhelmingly positive.

I hope that in some way these written words will allow you to form a clear picture of the man I have had the greatest pleasure of knowing and working beside to build a better community for the citizens of Houston. Be not swayed by the words of others who will not put their name to their slander or who for some self-serving reason are bent on bringing down what they cannot themselves aspire to.

Any community would benefit from having the privilege to share in the vision and insight of this man who adheres to right.

Wanda Thomas

Wasilla