When I woke up and went to work on the morning of Jan. 7, I did not expect that my day would end with it being necessary for the State Police and Tamaqua Ambulance to be dispatched to my Coaldale home that cold, dark evening.

In this challenging climate for our communities and public safety professionals, I’d like this letter to be a clear, public word of thanks to the personnel who responded to that emergency.

I also thank my municipal government for every good faith effort that it is making to optimize public safety with limited resources.

I have learned the hard way that there are people out there who most assuredly want trouble. God bless our police and EMS. Without them, I might not have been around to write this letter.

I respectfully suggest to fellow residents in Coaldale that they join me in following some good advice that my father received from a police officer in 1982: LIGHTS. keep your property lit up at night. If you think electricity is expensive, consider the cost of being crippled or killed by an attacker.

Edward Pierson

Coaldale