In her letter, the woman described how Auburn Police Chief Bob Lee dealt with her 7-year-old son, just then traumatized by an ugly act of domestic violence.
Using words like “compassionate, gentle, understanding and incredibly patient,” she described Lee kneeling until he was at eye level with her boy, talking with him, and the heartfelt gratitude she felt for his having made the best of a terrifying experience.
One positive episode among hundreds that have fattened Bob Lee’s personnel file in his many years of service to the Auburn community.
Monday night, a dozen of Lee’s officers came to City Hall to honor their chief, who as of June 1, had entered his 35th year with the force.
Hired as a patrolman for the Auburn Police Department on June 1, 1981, Lee was promoted to sergeant on Feb. 1 1990, to lieutenant on March 16, 1997, and to assistant patrol chief on Dec. 3, 2002. On Oct. 1, 2010, he succeeded Chief Jim Kelly, who was leaving to take a job at the SCORE jail.
To offer a sounding of the man, Mayor Nancy Backus read from Lee’s application in 1981, wherein his fresh-faced, 21-year-old self explained why he wanted to be a policeman for Auburn.
“I feel I have always been an honest and responsible person, and thus being a police officer would give me a great deal of satisfaction in helping others.” Lee wrote. “I understand Auburn is a small yet growing community, and I would like very much to be a part of the program.”
“Not bad for a 21-year-old kid,” Backus said. “And that is exactly what Bob has done from the day he was hired. He has one of the biggest personnel files I have had the opportunity to go through in my tenure here as mayor ….”
Just then, Rob Roscoe, director of risk management for the City, cut in to point out that having an enormous personnel file was not always, and not necessarily, a good thing.
“Normally it’s not, but in this case, it’s excellent,” Backus said above the laughter. “There are so many commendations and so many letters sharing appreciation for the job that Bob has done in his numerous roles for the department that he oversees.
“It makes me very proud to stand up with you tonight, to see your officers, who could have said they had a call and couldn’t be here. But they chose to be here to help us honor you,” Backus said.
Lee said that back in his days at the police academy, few officers-to-be thought about working for Auburn, as King County was the bigger agency and had a lot to offer.
“After four or five months here, I thought: ‘There’s no way I’m leaving. It provides everything a young person could want continuing in law enforcement.’ I think that over the years, of all the people who have come here, very few have left because it’s an awesome place to work with great support from the mayor and council.
“Over the last five years since being chief, 52 new people have walked through the door, most of those police officers, and most of those are sitting back over here,” Lee said, indicating his guys in blue at the back of the room.
