Cpl. Chris K. Sperry is modest about the small things he does on his Brooklyn Park beat to make the lives of residents and business owners easier.
But it is those little extras that gained the 18-year police veteran the Northern District Officer of the Year award for 1994. He received a plaque last month from the Northern District Police Relations Council.
Examples of going the extra mile fill his record.
He once helped an older couple whose car broke down on Ritchie Highway as they were on their way to Baltimore-Washington International airport to catch a flight to Ireland.
Corporal Sperry got them a tow truck, kept them company with stories of his trip to Ireland as a young boy and dropped them off at their home. They remembered the tall, handsome officer with a thank-you letter and a four-leaf-clover key chain from Ireland.
The couple's note is among a dozen Corporal Sperry, 39, received last year from people he had helped.
"He's more than just a police officer. He's a friend," said Thelma White, who lives on Brookwood Road. "He cares for people, I think, a little bit more than some. He takes an extra step to try and help someone."
He took that step for Ms. White last June, when some tenants were slow in moving out after she evicted them for violating the terms of their lease, Ms. White said.
Corporal Sperry tracked down the former tenants and ordered them to remove all their belongings in a half-hour and not return to her home, she said. "Any other officer probably would have told me to go to court," Ms. White said.
She said Corporal Sperry still calls her to say "hi" and to see how she is doing.
Karl Reiser, owner of K & R Motors in the 6000 block of Ritchie Highway, had 53 break-ins in 1993, mostly people swiping radios from used cars on his lot.
Corporal Sperry began regularly checking on Mr. Reiser's shop, as he still does.
"He made sure that the patrol on his shift drove on my lot and were seen to make sure everything was OK," Mr. Reiser said.
He hasn't had any break-ins since New Year's Eve 1994.
"He's a super-nice young man," said Mr. Reiser, who gets a wave from Corporal Sperry if the officer doesn't have time to chat.
Corporal Sperry, who comes from a family of police officers, said he wanted to wear a badge and uniform ever since he was 5. He took a $7,000 pay cut in 1976 and left his job at a Giant supermarket to join the Anne Arundel County Police Department. He said he finds all of the attention he's getting now "kind of embarrassing."
"It's just stuff like that I've done throughout my career," said the soft-spoken corporal, who believes showing kindness never hurts. "But I let people know upfront I'm compassionate, but I'm not a pushover."
Corporal Sperry lives in Arnold with his wife and two sons, ages 8 and 13. Off duty, he enjoys golf and coaching his sons' Mago Vista summer Little League team.
His former boss, Lt. Russell Hewitt, now at Southern District, nominated him for the award.
"I think I've nominated a total of four people over the 10 years I've been a supervisor. It's not something I do everyday and it's not something I do lightly," said Lieutenant Hewitt, a police officer for 20 years.
He described Corporal Sperry as a patient officer who leads by example and comes to work every day and does his job without complaint.
"He goes out of his way to help people or tries to explain to them why he can't do what they want him to," Lieutenant Hewitt said.
This honor "is not for catching a bank robber with the proverbial smoking gun. That's not the case here. But for my money, I value an employee who does what he does," said Lieutenant Hewitt.