Officer Heidi Froisland

We’re back with another Participating Officer Highlight! If you’re new here, PO highlights are an opportunity for us to shine the light on officers using our program. We read numerous field notes from our participating officers, and sometimes there is a specific officer that stands out to us with their phenomenal stories. Someone who stood out to us recently is Officer Heidi Froisland with the Mountlake Terrace Police Department.

Officer Froisland brings an incredible 23 years of law enforcement experience to her community, all backed by a deep commitment to community policing. Officer Froisland has been a dedicated BlueBridge champion for over a year now. Equipped with her own BlueBridge card, she quickly got the hang of the program and has been actively using it to step in when Mountlake Terrace residents face unexpected crises. For Officer Froisland, the most memorable moment of using the program came during a high-stress situation involving vulnerable children. Their mother was being taken to jail, and the kids had to wait with the police until their grandmother could arrive. Instead of letting it be a nightmarish experience, Officer Froisland used her BlueBridge card to buy them breakfast and groceries.  

“The youngest was absolutely thrilled to be having breakfast with a police officer and the eldest was very helpful with her siblings,” Officer Froisland recalls. “It made a time that could be very negative for the kiddos into something positive.”

When asked what BlueBridge means to her in the context of her day-to-day work, Officer Froisland highlighted how the program actively shifts her mindset on patrol. Having the immediate resources handy means she is always looking for new ways to uplift people. While the Mountlake Terrace Police Department has always maintained a strong connection with its neighborhoods, certain logistical gaps, like arranging emergency housing, used to be incredibly difficult to solve on the fly.

“At our department we have always been well connected with our community, but there has been a gap in being able to assist with emergency housing by getting people a hotel room,” she explains. “Now I can assist in these circumstances.”

With the current state of the economy, Officer Froisland finds herself coming across financial needs more and more frequently. She views BlueBridge as the ultimate tool for community caretaking when people call 911 for problems that aren't necessarily law enforcement matters.

Looking toward the future, Officer Froisland notes that the program's success relies entirely on the generosity of local donors. Fortuitously, the program's visibility often speaks for itself.

“I’ve had people inquire when I’m making BlueBridge purchases as to what the program is and how to donate, as people can see that these donations stay in the community. I see this as being full-circle: community members helping community members.”

We deeply appreciate dedicated advocates like Officer Froisland. For public servants who live and breathe community caretaking, it’s an honor to provide the resources that turn stressful situations into moments of hope.  Want to help more Mountlake Terrace officers like Officer Froisland bring hope to their neighborhoods? You can support the program: https://bluebridgealliance.org/mountlaketerracewapd/.