The unexpected arrival of US law enforcement at your door might get the heart racing.
But for Crieff 70-year-old John Gorrie it proved to be the exciting highlight of a lifelong interest in badge collecting.
John’s surprise visitor was Montrose-born Sam Walker, who is based in the Wilmette Police Department more than 3,500 miles from Scotland in a 27,000 population community north of Chicago.
So when John’s request for a badge dropped on the desk of the digital forensics expert, part-time US Secret Service worker Sam was straight on the case.
He popped one of the Cook County force’s emblems into his suitcase for a summer trip home.
And the 36-year-old former Scottish special constable hand-delivered the badge while visiting a relative in the Perthshire town.
Friendly figure in Crieff
John, a well-known and popular figure in Crieff, admitted it was a pleasant shock.
“I go on the internet to look for badges and I wrote to the chief of police over there in Illinois,” he said.
“I was hoping I might get a badge sent to me and was looking out for the postie.
“When the door went I thought it could be him, but then I discovered it was Sam.
“So instead it was hand-delivered all the way from the US.
“I was very grateful he took the time to come up to see me.”
The Wilmette badge is now tucked safely in one of the folders which house John’s bulging badge collection.
His family originate from Perthshire, but John was born in the Bahamas.
Personal ambitions to become a police officer were thwarted at a young age, but he’s spent decades sourcing badges from around the globe.
The collection runs to thousands and includes military, police, fire service and rescue emblems.
And John still sticks to his tried and trusted method of penning a letter to whichever part of the world he’s sending a request to.
Sam’s interesting career
Sam said he was delighted to be able to make the special delivery.
“Early in July the department received the letter from John,” he said.
“As it so happened I was returning home to Scotland for a long holiday and my aunt lives in Crieff so I brought the patch and dropped it off.”
Former Montrose Academy pupil Sam graduated in Ethical Hacking and Coutermeasures from the University of Abertay in 2009.
After a 2010 summer camp in the States he returned to the US for 16 months where he met his now wife, Jen.
“We were married in the US in April of 2013, and she moved to the UK where we lived in Edinburgh for three years,” said Sam.
He worked as an IT manager for legal firm Aberdein Considine, and was also a Police Scotland special constable in Edinburgh Centre.
“We moved back to the US in 2016 and I became an officer for the Wilmette Police Department.
“It is a small agency for a community of 27,000.
Homicide investigations
“The US is very different from Scotland, with hyper-localised policing,” said Sam.
“In 2019 I was diagnosed with five herniated discs and degenerative disc disease.
“Due to the medication I was taking and the fact that I had two implanted spinal stimulators it necessitated my medical retirement from being a police officer.
“Thankfully the department was able to keep me employed as a civilian where I am in charge of IT and run our digital forensics lab.
“I was also able to become a member of the regional homicide taskforce known as the North Regional Major Crimes Taskforce (NORTAF).
“After a couple of years of work, I was invited to be a task force officer with the US Secret Service where I do digital forensics on a part-time basis.”
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