By Joelyn Hansen

Last week Chief McBride and his wife, Sandra, celebrated 40 years of marriage. That's quite a fete considering law enforcement careers tend to be tough on marriages.

According to an article from the Police Chief Magazine, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Center for Health Statistics, in 2005, declared that 48% of marriages failed in the U.S. Past studies indicate that law enforcement officers have one of the highest divorce rates when compared to other groups of professionals because of job stress and irregular work hours.

Amazingly enough the McBrides, who are the parents of seven children and grandparents of  24 (almost 26) grandchildren, aren't the only couple at the IFPD that has experienced longevity in their marriage. In a quick, non-scientific poll, other officers proudly proclaimed anywhere from 15 to 45 years of marriage. In my opinion, it looks like we have pretty good odds at our department.

The officers did acknowledge that their successful marriages required time, commitment and work to help battle the hurdles that come with a job in law enforcement.

I asked Sandra McBride about her advice for a lasting marriage.

This was her response:

1. If your spouse is in law enforcement and they love their job, just know that you will come 2nd in their life because they are committed to protecting the citizens of Idaho Falls.

2. Always think of the needs of your spouse and not about yourself.

3. Always tell your spouse that you love them.

Officer Bart Whiting receiving the Idaho American Legion Officer of the Year Award

Officer Mark Goodman

By Joelyn Hansen

This post is a bit late -- OK a lot late! But, it's too important to not blog about a few accomplishments of couple of our officers in recent months.

I need to start out by saying that we have really good police officers working at the PD. They work hard and do a lot for the community to ensure criminals are taken care of and that safety is a number one priority.

We probably could brag all the time about the things they do! But, I specifically wanted to mention a couple of awards that were given to Officers Bart Whiting and Mark Goodman.

Back in June, Officers Mark Goodman and Bart Whiting received the Commander's Commendations for their initiative in apprehending two juveniles responsible for stealing a car and burglarizing 14 other vehicles.

Officer Goodman relied on his instincts that night when he encountered two boys driving around in a car. When he initiated his lights to stop them, they jumped out of the car and ran from police. They tried to hide out, but unfortunately, for these boys, our officers certainly outsmarted them!

Officer Whiting honored again in July as Officer of the Year by the Idaho American Legion. He was honored for his selfless action and bravery in responding to the Christmas Eve fire at the Bonneville Hotel as he rescued multiple people unable to exit the building.

You can read more about the rescue here.

Officer Whiting is the the second IFPD officer to receive this award in the last two years. We're hoping to make it a three peat next year for IFPD! Hopefully this doesn't put too much pressure on the officers!

We're certainly proud of both officers for their accomplishments!

Here's a few pictures from Wednesday night's Community Night Out. By the turn out and the overall comments, I'd say it was a successful and fun night. If you missed it, you better make sure you come out to it next year!

I'd like to take all the credit for it, but, in reality the success of this event really belongs to the many people that participate and sponsor it to make it happen. They are an amazing group of people. We're fortunate that there are people in this community that support the IFPD in their efforts to strengthen community and help promote safety and crime prevention in our neighborhoods!

Here's a list of all who participated or sponsored this year:

Idaho Falls Animal Services
D.A.R.E.
Idaho Falls Regional Bomb Squad
Bonneville County Sheriff's Office
Bonneville County Search & Rescue
Idaho Falls Citizen's Watch Patrol
Idaho Falls Parks and Recreation
Idaho Falls Fire Department
Idaho Falls/Bonneville County Dispatch Center
Idaho State Police
Idaho Falls Power
City of Idaho Falls Planning & Zoning
City of Idaho Falls Code Enforcement
Eastern Idaho Public Health
Bonneville Youth Development Council
Operation Lifesaver
Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Center
Bonneville Metropolitan Planning Organization
Idaho Falls Arts Council
CWI-Idaho Cleanup Project
Idaho National Laboratory
Stevens-Henager College
Big Brothers Big Sisters
Suicide Prevention Action Network (SPAN) Idaho
Target
Ammon Walmart
Idaho Falls' Sam's Club
Bonneville County Emergency Management
FOP/FOP Auxiliary
Christian Motorcyclist Association
IdahoSTARS
EICAP/RSVP/Headstart
AssureLink
                                                                                    Human Dynamics & Diagnostics  

I would also like to thank the many people that came out to support the event. It was a great night to see so many people in the community. Hopefully, they walked away with some great information on how to make our community better, safer and closer to crime-free!

See you all next year!