Compliment An Officer

The Carbondale Police Department strives to provide the best police services and maintain high professionalism and rapport with the community.

If a Carbondale Police Department employee has positively impacted your life, please consider completing this online form. 

We appreciate you letting the City of Carbondale and the Carbondale Police Department know when police officers go "above and beyond."

Please read the submitted commendations below:

"Lt. Dunnigan was in charge of a case involving found/stolen property from an address I had previously lived at in Carbondale (2010-2013). Years after I had moved out of state a safe with personal items was found not far from my previous address, possibly stolen. Inside were some personal items including my Marine Corps promotion warrant to Corporal, my honorable discharge and Operation Enduring Freedom certificate.

Lt. Dunnigan did the work and found out I was once a student at SIU, lived in Carbondale and had a deceased father by the same name. He eventually contacted me and inquired about the safe, and made arrangements to send the contents of said safe to me at my residence in Georgia.

I will be able to share these items with my daughter and I am grateful for Lt. Dunnigan's efforts, diligence and perseverance. He went above and beyond as far as I'm concerned for such a low level case." 

October 7, 2022

"I am a foster mom and a single mom. I have had to call 911 or CPD several times for extra "bodies" and protection of my foster son from himself. Each officer has been amazing. Many times he's destroyed his room and won't calm until they enter my home. They take the time to sit and talk with him (he usually won't talk) but it allows him time to calm down and for me also to have help should his behaviors escalate to the point of self harm or harm to others (which has happened). He is making great strides. I'm taking parenting coaching for dealing with a child from a traumatic environment and we are getting the hang of it.

One of your officers is a transfer from Cairo. I think his name is Blackburn. He knows the family my son comes from. He has taken extra time to sit and talk with my son. He even spent extra time to retrieve a helicopter from a tree back in the winter which led to a huge behavior in my son.

All of you officers treat us all with respect and kindness. I am grateful for having such wonderful helpers to call when needed. I appreciate you all."

April 23, 2022

"I only know Officer Stine's name of the multiple Carbondale Police Department officers that responded to my call. I called to inform them that my security cameras alerted me there was an unknown, suspicious individual in my driveway next to my girlfriend's car, who was at the house alone asleep at 3:00 a.m., the officers responded quickly and searched my property, and my surrounding neighbors until they made contact with the individual. They then made contact with my girlfriend and made her feel safe/protected and gave her peace of mind.

I cannot thank every one of you officers enough for your bravery and service to our community. Thank you for working the night shift on a Friday night so the community is protected. Thank you all, God bless you, I wish you the utmost safety along your career paths, and please know there are plenty of citizens who love and support our law enforcement."

April 12, 2022

"On March 31 of this year officers responded to my home security alarm going off. My wife accidentally did not shut the backdoor fully when she took our dog for a walk. My alarm company called me and I couldn't get my wife to answer her phone. When I arrived home multiple officers were at my property. I gave them my key because they insisted on clearing the house and making sure no one was in there that shouldn't. All of the officers were very helpful and professional and did their job very well. One of them made me stay behind a car for protection just in case. In the middle of them checking the house, I see my wife walking up the road with our dog, and then things were cleared up."

March 24, 2022

"I live out of state and filed a missing persons report knowing my friend's last whereabouts were Carbondale, Illinois. The help from everyone in the department was excellent in trying to assist me with this. Detective Ellitt [Ellett] ended up making contact with my friend and she is no longer missing, and he truly went above and beyond to make sure she was safe and okay and kept me in the loop during the whole process. He deserves a raise as he genuinely cares about the public and will guarantee a smooth solution to every problem that may arise. Thank you again Detective Ellitt [Ellett]!!!"

November 17, 2021

"We had someone break into our house and he [Officer Noto] was very helpful in explaining everything and helping get to the bottom of it."

May 7, 2021

"We called to talk to someone about an event that had happened on the internet with our daughter, who has learning disabilities. Officer Burris responded immediately to our call. He took the time to explain to us the various steps we could take to protect our daughter. He was informative and professional, and we felt he understood the emotional aspect of what had happened. He even went to the school to meet with our daughter and her counselor that day.

He has continued to guide us as we follow up on the case.

In these days of so many issues between communities and officers, it's wonderful to see someone like Officer Burris who typifies the best in our police force. He is a credit to Carbondale and to police officers everywhere.

Thank you, Officer Burris!"

May 2021

The Carbondale Police Department recently received a heartfelt card in the mail thanking an officer for their quick response and a telecommunicator for keeping them calm during a scary situation.

The citizen explained that in mid-April, following a series of unfortunate events, they accidentally locked their grandchild in the car. The 911 operator [Holly] kept the grandparent calm while they waited for an officer to arrive. Holly was "super sweet and kind and professional and had the policeman there in what seemed like two minutes!" The citizen continued by saying that the police officer, whose name was not given, was "also wonderful and really made me feel better. Just a very sweet guy!" This grandparent added, "I'm hoping the City will let these people know how much I appreciate them! City and Police are outstanding!"