Guate_shooter
LA CHP Instructor # 522
This was posted today on Law Enforcement Today and it was good enough to share so people who are not directly related with the job understand a little more about what goes on behind scenes, not wrote by me I just copy paste.
I wrote this article in rebuttal to an article printed about a Deputy that was malicious, pointless, blown up and didn't just make this GOOD DEPUTY with many years of service look bad but the entire department (and police in general). This writer felt it necessary to turn a few infractions into a 5 page malicious, pointless article ab...out a man she does not know who does a job she knows nothing about. At the end of my article is contact information if you would like to let the editors of the newspaper know how you feel about what she has done.
Although there are so many different areas of Law Enforcement, this particular article focuses mainly on the Men and Women who Patrol our streets.
Has THIS ever happened to you?
You are out and about in your Patrol vehicle/on your motorbike. Everything quiet at the moment. Then the call comes in. You hit the lights and sirens. Adrenaline starts pumping. Mind starts racing. You have no idea what is around that blind corner but you head in anyway, while others would sooner head out and go on about their personal lives. After all, it has no affect on their life so why should they give a damn. The radio is blaring off bits and pieces at a time. You are concentrating on the road while at the same moment trying to process the incoming and ongoing puzzle pieces. Someone is in trouble. You need to help. It is who you are. You do not have the luxury of picking and choosing on what call to take. You can not think about the fear. It would destroy you mentally. With your heart pumping, you find the address ... you go to stop but then suddenly scrape the curb ... hard. You wind up with a flat tire and a dent and some scratches ... on the vehicle. You handle the call. You get it done. Victims are now safe. Bad guys are led away. You walk away with your life. Most people would think a flat tire and few scratches was a fair trade.
Has THIS ever happened to you?
You go through training. Constantly. Always something new to learn. Procedure. Policy. Tactics. Weapons. Emergency Response. And the list goes on. Just a never ending cycle of training and reading and writing and participation. With all of these unending lessons comes unending paperwork. Sign here. Initial there. Read and acknowledge this. Copies to this superior. Copies to that one. Same paper, different wording but you have to do them all anyway. Form #1234. Form #2341. Form #3412. Form #4123. With so many forms and notes and signatures and people to send to, you forget Form #4321. Okay. Not like you can't just fill it out once brought to your attention ... right?
Has THIS ever happened to you?
You are in your vehicle/on your motorbike. Suspect is on the run. He is driving crazy, endangering innocent lives all the while. The only thing going though your head is you have to get him and stop him before he kills someone. Your speed increases as his does. Adrenaline and heart pulsing faster and faster. You start to get tunnel vision. Concentrating on that car that is getting smaller in vision by the mile. You can't lose sight of him but you are trained and know to watch for other vehicles. Unlike the bad guy just trying to save his own ass. He is not thinking about anyone but himself and getting away. You do not have that luxury. You know that there are laws to help you through this though. Laws to help you catch the bad guy. Unfortunately, there are drivers on the road who either do not know of such laws or they simply are so wrapped up in their own lives that they do not care. By LAW, you must slow down and pull over when you hear sirens wailing and see the bright flashing blue and red lights. Motor vehicles are not designed to stop on a dime. So it is expected that everyone do their part. Citizens slow down and move out of the way and Policeman goes and catches the bad guy. So you are in this chase and someone does not get out of the way. You get into an accident with this vehicle. Now, anyone, no matter what you do for a living, if you have ever been in an accident where you know it could have been prevented if someone had followed a simple road rule, you are going to be upset about it. I don't care who you are. Couple with this the adrenaline rush that only a Police Officer will ever know, you may wind up saying something you wouldn't normally otherwise. You may say a curse word or kick a tire or hit the roof of a car with your fist. Something to just let it go. It is called an involuntary reaction to the crash of the cars and the crash of your pulse. I challenge anyone to be able to keep from saying anything or reacting. And while on this subject of vehicle pursuits, how many times have you been in a pursuit ... all you hear is the radio calls of the second car while you are lead or you are calling while someone else is lead and again, the adrenaline is going strong and hard. You know that when you get this car stopped that it may not be the end of it. Bad guys get out of cars with weapons in hand and shooting off rounds before you even have a chance to stop. This is what happens. This is real life out there on the road and this is what you think about because you know it happens. This is YOUR REALITY SHOW! No out takes, no edits, no damn do-overs. It is also why you are determined to get him. You are sworn to protect. You get them before they get someone else. All this is going through your head at once. You are going to get the bad guy! That is what you are paid to do after all yes? All of a sudden, you hear 'his' voice come over the radio. Discontinue pursuit. But he is not out here. He does not see you are close. You can get him. Just a few more moments and the bad guy is gotten. You are born with natural instincts. You have been doing this job for several years. You have judgment. You trust that judgment. So you keep going. You are a Policeman and the People count on you to stop the bad guy. And be damned if you do not.
Has THIS ever happened to you?
Patrol cars and motorbikes are not used like everyday family vehicles. The mileage is so much higher, the roads traveled are so much rougher, the stops and starts are so much more frequent than any citizen's car. All of this much more wear and tear requires a lot more maintenance and therefore causes the vehicles to have to be brought to motor pool a whole lot more often than your normal tune-ups. Now, you are on the job for a few years and you have a good sense of how long certain repairs will take. You use your head. Not rocket science. This is all part of the job. You learn from each time. So you use your own judgment. So instead of grabbing a spare vehicle, saving money and additional wear and tear, you simply ride with another Police Officer. Well, your supervisor finds out you did not go and take the spare vehicle (you still thinking you used good judgment) and he calls you on it. That gets you a little annoyed because to be honest, a Policeman does not choose this field 'just because'. He is born with a special soul hand picked for him and with this, he is given natural born instincts. And let me tell you something, at the end of the day, sometimes all you are left is with your instincts as a Police Officer. And if you start second guessing yourself over the insignificant matters, then you will be no good to yourself or to the People you are sworn to and promise to protect. So would you be a bit annoyed if you did the logical, sensible, money saving thing and it was questioned?
Has THIS ever happened to you?
You work 8-12 hour shifts. Back to back. No days off sometimes for quite a while. You are tired. Exhausted from dealing with the same bad guys day after day. Arresting and re-arresting a few days later because he was let out by the judge. You come across the same persons who obviously have no regard for the law or the People of the town. They do their crimes over and over and over again. You go to court, over and over and over again. With the same person. But yet again, he is back on the street within 24-48 hours (sometimes sooner) and picks up right where you picked him up. And yet you still do it. Day after day. Because it is who you are. And he curses, spits and fights with you each and every time. Because it is who he is. Now what citizens seem to not realize is that after a Police Officer makes an arrest and brings the bad guy to jail, it does not end there. That same Police Officer, after doing all that paperwork I mentioned earlier, has to also appear at each court hearing, each time for each bad guy he arrests or cites. And the court times are set during normal business hours for the most part. So, after working that 8-12 hour shift of dealing with those same bad guys, you do not have the luxury of going straight home to rip off your 20-40 pound weight duty belt, sweat soaked clothes and hop into a nice relaxing bubble bath. No. You are required to leave your shift, head right over to the courthouse and then wait sometimes another several hours ... just to hear the judge say to the bad guy .. "Ok, you are free to go." Have you ever just wanted to go straight home and forget about court? Have you ever had a day where you had to deal with the worst of the worst all in one day? The disrespectful thug, belligerent drunk, the drug addicted mother who left her soiled-filled diapered child screaming alone in a cockroach infested home, the 4 year old, blood-soaked child who you are holding in your arms and praying the ambulance gets there before she dies because some badass gangbanger missed his target when shooting off his semi-automatic weapon or working a crash scene where you have to lay out markers so all the different body parts can be collected? Sometimes, making a court date is the last thing on your mind and you wind up missing it.
While on the subject of (the few) things that a Police Officer sees and deals with, have you ever gotten to the point where after seeing these aggravating or tragic incidents, time after time, day after day, knowing all the well that so much of it can be avoided if people just applied themselves and used common sense, you just wanted to scream at the world? Shout it from the rooftops? "People, wake up! This didn't have to happen ... if only ...". Sometimes, as a Police Officer and after seeing and knowing what really goes on in this world, you do remind someone to make a change. You tell them to change this or fix that so something bad can be averted. A Policeman is expected to be a counselor, a baby sitter, a mediator. No formal training (good thing, that would just mean more forms to forget about). Some folks appreciate the extra guidance and the helpful information and important phone numbers a Police Officer always has on hand. Then there are those who no matter what you say nor how you say it, they already hate you ... because you are a cop. No other reason. So in their minds, it gives them the right to speak to you in a demeaning manner, curse at you, spit at your badge and then go and file a complaint against you and lie about what DIDN'T happen. And as a Police Officer, you know, you are guilty until proven innocent. So if the bad guy says it happened that way, then that MUST be what happened! The next stop for the bad guy is a lawyer so he can sue the city and instead of fighting it and actually backing the Men and Women who protect their city, they grab that pen and write that bad guy and his lawyer a check. However, it is perfectly acceptable for a citizen to yell, scream and be out-right rude and disrespectful to, punch, kick and bite a Police Officer but Heaven help that Officer if he so much as calls the bad guy a name. The city will never write a check for the Police Officer.
Has THIS ever happened to you?
It is your day off. Finally, you can shut the world and it's madness off for 24 hours. You have errands to run that you have had to put off all week because all your free time has been spent in court or catching up on reports and training forms. So you are out and about, taking care of your business. Trying to fit everything in on your day off. And keeping your fingers crossed you will still have a couple of hours to just relax. And why shouldn't you? The regular citizens have that luxury. What People do not and will never understand is that a Police Officer can not "shut off the world". They are not wired that way. Their minds are so trained to notice the missing, the out-of-place, the anomalies of the world. And no matter how hard an Officer tries, it just does not happen. And no matter where they are or what they are doing, whether on the clock or doing personal errands on their day off, a Police Officer is NEVER "Off-Duty". If they see a crime being committed, a victim in trouble, someone in need of a hand, the Police Officer will always act. Dropping everything to do it. Stopping their own lives so that they can help YOU in YOUR life and time of need. A Police Officer's hours are 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Period. But they do not get paid for these hours. And yet, they will never hesitate or say "why should I?" So you are driving down the highway and some careless motorist is driving recklessly. You see this because he just cut you off. But this is your day off and you are simply trying to get everything you need to done. It is frustrating. You can not stop it though. Your brain hits "cop-mode" gear and you go after this foolish driver. You have to. You know what could happen and you need to help prevent something tragic from happening. A Police Officer is not defined by the uniform He or She wears nor by what vehicle they happen to be driving at the time. A Police Officer is always a Police Officer. So the bad driver gets caught and is later found guilty. You did your job. You did what was expected of you. And be damned if you didn't.
Has THIS ever happened to you?
You go to work. You see the same peers everyday. Trust is there. You have to have this trust. The Men and Women who wear the uniform are the ones you must count on to be the eyes behind your back when going around those blind corners. The ones who will be looking up while you are looking down. The ones who are looking left and right while you are watching what is in front of you. You have to trust they will be the ones who will have your back when the gunfire rings out. It is an unspoken blind trust that you hope will be real when it all goes down. The ones who will pull your body out when hit. After all, who else in this world would take a bullet for someone else? Who else will risk their life with no hesitation nor reservation for someone else? The citizens you protect? No Sir. It is the Police Officer. Your peer. Your colleague is the one you have to trust because there is no one else who would do this for you. In a perfect world. But we all know we do not live in a perfect world. So sometimes, even those whom you spend so much time with everyday and have that seemingly unbreakable bond with, will turn around and surprise you, taking you aback, when you learn that their ulterior motives, for whatever reason, goes against this trust. There are those whom you grow close friendships with, those whom, because they are the only ones who can truly understand what life is like on the street, something greater develops. A male Office and a female Officer will often form a relationship. It is inevitable. They are the ones you can talk to openly about about. They are the ones you can scream to about what this world has come to. The ones you can cry to and they will not judge you ... because they need you just as much. For a Police Officer is the only one whom seem to realize the most basic of entity ... they are human too. Now, any person with any sense of life understands that relationships do not always work out. Hey, it happens. You deal with it and go on with your life. Stop for a moment and consider your last broken heart. It is not always that simple to deal and move on is it? Well, being as though I have now clued everyone in that Police Officers are, in fact, human beings, sometimes their break-ups are not so easy to get over either. And it makes it a little tougher when they still have to see, work with and trust these same people everyday. But as an Officer, you do become a little 'hardened'. You have to to be able to see the same atrocities day in and day out. So you would expect that the two whom have had a relationship that didn't work out would just chalk it up to simply not meant to be but continue on as trusting colleagues. Professionals if you will. Unfortunately, once in a while, you will get that one person who knows how to and will work hard at making your life miserable by going to the bosses and filing a complaint over something that is just simply ridiculous and petty and childish. Or in rare cases, when it is done with complete malice knowing that even the smallest of complaints can cost the other person their job. Now, if your entire career that you have worked hard at and done real great things over many years was in jeopardy because a man or woman was scorned, would you fight to defend your livelihood? A civilian does not usually have to worry about an ex calling their former partner's boss over an argument they had. But when it happens to a Police Officer, it is looked at like the 'crime of the century'. Arguments are arguments. Any relationship will have them. Yet a Police Officer is at risk of losing his or her job. So much for being human.
Has THIS ever happened to you?
Have you had a real good 12+ year career going, doing real great things receiving numerous letters of commendations, merit raises and praises from your Superiors and then one morning wake up, look at the headline of your local newspaper and see your name printed in bold letters followed by a FIVE PAGE article about the negative things in your jacket? A reporter took a handful of infractions from this Officer's file, and decided that she would use him as ... what .. I am still not sure? I could not wrap my head around the point of the article she has written about a GOOD Deputy she knows nothing about who does a job she has never done and yet felt it necessary and worthwhile to bring attention to. Now, in all fairness, I will attach the link to the newspaper she wrote this article, taking you right to the first of FIVE pages but I want you to read the PARTS of the file she chose to put out there closely. Read the wording in these "write-ups" carefully. This person tried to make something so huge out of nothing. Going so far as calling this "A DISTURBING HISTORY". Keep in mind, this was just a handful of days in this Man's career and makes him sound like he is so out of control and should not be wearing a badge. I think it was so unfair, uncalled for and totally unprofessional in the journalism field. But that is just my opinion.
One thing everyone should always think about: The Police Officer who gives you a ticket in the morning may be the same Police officer who will give you his life that night.
~Nessie~
I wrote this article in rebuttal to an article printed about a Deputy that was malicious, pointless, blown up and didn't just make this GOOD DEPUTY with many years of service look bad but the entire department (and police in general). This writer felt it necessary to turn a few infractions into a 5 page malicious, pointless article ab...out a man she does not know who does a job she knows nothing about. At the end of my article is contact information if you would like to let the editors of the newspaper know how you feel about what she has done.
Although there are so many different areas of Law Enforcement, this particular article focuses mainly on the Men and Women who Patrol our streets.
Has THIS ever happened to you?
You are out and about in your Patrol vehicle/on your motorbike. Everything quiet at the moment. Then the call comes in. You hit the lights and sirens. Adrenaline starts pumping. Mind starts racing. You have no idea what is around that blind corner but you head in anyway, while others would sooner head out and go on about their personal lives. After all, it has no affect on their life so why should they give a damn. The radio is blaring off bits and pieces at a time. You are concentrating on the road while at the same moment trying to process the incoming and ongoing puzzle pieces. Someone is in trouble. You need to help. It is who you are. You do not have the luxury of picking and choosing on what call to take. You can not think about the fear. It would destroy you mentally. With your heart pumping, you find the address ... you go to stop but then suddenly scrape the curb ... hard. You wind up with a flat tire and a dent and some scratches ... on the vehicle. You handle the call. You get it done. Victims are now safe. Bad guys are led away. You walk away with your life. Most people would think a flat tire and few scratches was a fair trade.
Has THIS ever happened to you?
You go through training. Constantly. Always something new to learn. Procedure. Policy. Tactics. Weapons. Emergency Response. And the list goes on. Just a never ending cycle of training and reading and writing and participation. With all of these unending lessons comes unending paperwork. Sign here. Initial there. Read and acknowledge this. Copies to this superior. Copies to that one. Same paper, different wording but you have to do them all anyway. Form #1234. Form #2341. Form #3412. Form #4123. With so many forms and notes and signatures and people to send to, you forget Form #4321. Okay. Not like you can't just fill it out once brought to your attention ... right?
Has THIS ever happened to you?
You are in your vehicle/on your motorbike. Suspect is on the run. He is driving crazy, endangering innocent lives all the while. The only thing going though your head is you have to get him and stop him before he kills someone. Your speed increases as his does. Adrenaline and heart pulsing faster and faster. You start to get tunnel vision. Concentrating on that car that is getting smaller in vision by the mile. You can't lose sight of him but you are trained and know to watch for other vehicles. Unlike the bad guy just trying to save his own ass. He is not thinking about anyone but himself and getting away. You do not have that luxury. You know that there are laws to help you through this though. Laws to help you catch the bad guy. Unfortunately, there are drivers on the road who either do not know of such laws or they simply are so wrapped up in their own lives that they do not care. By LAW, you must slow down and pull over when you hear sirens wailing and see the bright flashing blue and red lights. Motor vehicles are not designed to stop on a dime. So it is expected that everyone do their part. Citizens slow down and move out of the way and Policeman goes and catches the bad guy. So you are in this chase and someone does not get out of the way. You get into an accident with this vehicle. Now, anyone, no matter what you do for a living, if you have ever been in an accident where you know it could have been prevented if someone had followed a simple road rule, you are going to be upset about it. I don't care who you are. Couple with this the adrenaline rush that only a Police Officer will ever know, you may wind up saying something you wouldn't normally otherwise. You may say a curse word or kick a tire or hit the roof of a car with your fist. Something to just let it go. It is called an involuntary reaction to the crash of the cars and the crash of your pulse. I challenge anyone to be able to keep from saying anything or reacting. And while on this subject of vehicle pursuits, how many times have you been in a pursuit ... all you hear is the radio calls of the second car while you are lead or you are calling while someone else is lead and again, the adrenaline is going strong and hard. You know that when you get this car stopped that it may not be the end of it. Bad guys get out of cars with weapons in hand and shooting off rounds before you even have a chance to stop. This is what happens. This is real life out there on the road and this is what you think about because you know it happens. This is YOUR REALITY SHOW! No out takes, no edits, no damn do-overs. It is also why you are determined to get him. You are sworn to protect. You get them before they get someone else. All this is going through your head at once. You are going to get the bad guy! That is what you are paid to do after all yes? All of a sudden, you hear 'his' voice come over the radio. Discontinue pursuit. But he is not out here. He does not see you are close. You can get him. Just a few more moments and the bad guy is gotten. You are born with natural instincts. You have been doing this job for several years. You have judgment. You trust that judgment. So you keep going. You are a Policeman and the People count on you to stop the bad guy. And be damned if you do not.
Has THIS ever happened to you?
Patrol cars and motorbikes are not used like everyday family vehicles. The mileage is so much higher, the roads traveled are so much rougher, the stops and starts are so much more frequent than any citizen's car. All of this much more wear and tear requires a lot more maintenance and therefore causes the vehicles to have to be brought to motor pool a whole lot more often than your normal tune-ups. Now, you are on the job for a few years and you have a good sense of how long certain repairs will take. You use your head. Not rocket science. This is all part of the job. You learn from each time. So you use your own judgment. So instead of grabbing a spare vehicle, saving money and additional wear and tear, you simply ride with another Police Officer. Well, your supervisor finds out you did not go and take the spare vehicle (you still thinking you used good judgment) and he calls you on it. That gets you a little annoyed because to be honest, a Policeman does not choose this field 'just because'. He is born with a special soul hand picked for him and with this, he is given natural born instincts. And let me tell you something, at the end of the day, sometimes all you are left is with your instincts as a Police Officer. And if you start second guessing yourself over the insignificant matters, then you will be no good to yourself or to the People you are sworn to and promise to protect. So would you be a bit annoyed if you did the logical, sensible, money saving thing and it was questioned?
Has THIS ever happened to you?
You work 8-12 hour shifts. Back to back. No days off sometimes for quite a while. You are tired. Exhausted from dealing with the same bad guys day after day. Arresting and re-arresting a few days later because he was let out by the judge. You come across the same persons who obviously have no regard for the law or the People of the town. They do their crimes over and over and over again. You go to court, over and over and over again. With the same person. But yet again, he is back on the street within 24-48 hours (sometimes sooner) and picks up right where you picked him up. And yet you still do it. Day after day. Because it is who you are. And he curses, spits and fights with you each and every time. Because it is who he is. Now what citizens seem to not realize is that after a Police Officer makes an arrest and brings the bad guy to jail, it does not end there. That same Police Officer, after doing all that paperwork I mentioned earlier, has to also appear at each court hearing, each time for each bad guy he arrests or cites. And the court times are set during normal business hours for the most part. So, after working that 8-12 hour shift of dealing with those same bad guys, you do not have the luxury of going straight home to rip off your 20-40 pound weight duty belt, sweat soaked clothes and hop into a nice relaxing bubble bath. No. You are required to leave your shift, head right over to the courthouse and then wait sometimes another several hours ... just to hear the judge say to the bad guy .. "Ok, you are free to go." Have you ever just wanted to go straight home and forget about court? Have you ever had a day where you had to deal with the worst of the worst all in one day? The disrespectful thug, belligerent drunk, the drug addicted mother who left her soiled-filled diapered child screaming alone in a cockroach infested home, the 4 year old, blood-soaked child who you are holding in your arms and praying the ambulance gets there before she dies because some badass gangbanger missed his target when shooting off his semi-automatic weapon or working a crash scene where you have to lay out markers so all the different body parts can be collected? Sometimes, making a court date is the last thing on your mind and you wind up missing it.
While on the subject of (the few) things that a Police Officer sees and deals with, have you ever gotten to the point where after seeing these aggravating or tragic incidents, time after time, day after day, knowing all the well that so much of it can be avoided if people just applied themselves and used common sense, you just wanted to scream at the world? Shout it from the rooftops? "People, wake up! This didn't have to happen ... if only ...". Sometimes, as a Police Officer and after seeing and knowing what really goes on in this world, you do remind someone to make a change. You tell them to change this or fix that so something bad can be averted. A Policeman is expected to be a counselor, a baby sitter, a mediator. No formal training (good thing, that would just mean more forms to forget about). Some folks appreciate the extra guidance and the helpful information and important phone numbers a Police Officer always has on hand. Then there are those who no matter what you say nor how you say it, they already hate you ... because you are a cop. No other reason. So in their minds, it gives them the right to speak to you in a demeaning manner, curse at you, spit at your badge and then go and file a complaint against you and lie about what DIDN'T happen. And as a Police Officer, you know, you are guilty until proven innocent. So if the bad guy says it happened that way, then that MUST be what happened! The next stop for the bad guy is a lawyer so he can sue the city and instead of fighting it and actually backing the Men and Women who protect their city, they grab that pen and write that bad guy and his lawyer a check. However, it is perfectly acceptable for a citizen to yell, scream and be out-right rude and disrespectful to, punch, kick and bite a Police Officer but Heaven help that Officer if he so much as calls the bad guy a name. The city will never write a check for the Police Officer.
Has THIS ever happened to you?
It is your day off. Finally, you can shut the world and it's madness off for 24 hours. You have errands to run that you have had to put off all week because all your free time has been spent in court or catching up on reports and training forms. So you are out and about, taking care of your business. Trying to fit everything in on your day off. And keeping your fingers crossed you will still have a couple of hours to just relax. And why shouldn't you? The regular citizens have that luxury. What People do not and will never understand is that a Police Officer can not "shut off the world". They are not wired that way. Their minds are so trained to notice the missing, the out-of-place, the anomalies of the world. And no matter how hard an Officer tries, it just does not happen. And no matter where they are or what they are doing, whether on the clock or doing personal errands on their day off, a Police Officer is NEVER "Off-Duty". If they see a crime being committed, a victim in trouble, someone in need of a hand, the Police Officer will always act. Dropping everything to do it. Stopping their own lives so that they can help YOU in YOUR life and time of need. A Police Officer's hours are 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Period. But they do not get paid for these hours. And yet, they will never hesitate or say "why should I?" So you are driving down the highway and some careless motorist is driving recklessly. You see this because he just cut you off. But this is your day off and you are simply trying to get everything you need to done. It is frustrating. You can not stop it though. Your brain hits "cop-mode" gear and you go after this foolish driver. You have to. You know what could happen and you need to help prevent something tragic from happening. A Police Officer is not defined by the uniform He or She wears nor by what vehicle they happen to be driving at the time. A Police Officer is always a Police Officer. So the bad driver gets caught and is later found guilty. You did your job. You did what was expected of you. And be damned if you didn't.
Has THIS ever happened to you?
You go to work. You see the same peers everyday. Trust is there. You have to have this trust. The Men and Women who wear the uniform are the ones you must count on to be the eyes behind your back when going around those blind corners. The ones who will be looking up while you are looking down. The ones who are looking left and right while you are watching what is in front of you. You have to trust they will be the ones who will have your back when the gunfire rings out. It is an unspoken blind trust that you hope will be real when it all goes down. The ones who will pull your body out when hit. After all, who else in this world would take a bullet for someone else? Who else will risk their life with no hesitation nor reservation for someone else? The citizens you protect? No Sir. It is the Police Officer. Your peer. Your colleague is the one you have to trust because there is no one else who would do this for you. In a perfect world. But we all know we do not live in a perfect world. So sometimes, even those whom you spend so much time with everyday and have that seemingly unbreakable bond with, will turn around and surprise you, taking you aback, when you learn that their ulterior motives, for whatever reason, goes against this trust. There are those whom you grow close friendships with, those whom, because they are the only ones who can truly understand what life is like on the street, something greater develops. A male Office and a female Officer will often form a relationship. It is inevitable. They are the ones you can talk to openly about about. They are the ones you can scream to about what this world has come to. The ones you can cry to and they will not judge you ... because they need you just as much. For a Police Officer is the only one whom seem to realize the most basic of entity ... they are human too. Now, any person with any sense of life understands that relationships do not always work out. Hey, it happens. You deal with it and go on with your life. Stop for a moment and consider your last broken heart. It is not always that simple to deal and move on is it? Well, being as though I have now clued everyone in that Police Officers are, in fact, human beings, sometimes their break-ups are not so easy to get over either. And it makes it a little tougher when they still have to see, work with and trust these same people everyday. But as an Officer, you do become a little 'hardened'. You have to to be able to see the same atrocities day in and day out. So you would expect that the two whom have had a relationship that didn't work out would just chalk it up to simply not meant to be but continue on as trusting colleagues. Professionals if you will. Unfortunately, once in a while, you will get that one person who knows how to and will work hard at making your life miserable by going to the bosses and filing a complaint over something that is just simply ridiculous and petty and childish. Or in rare cases, when it is done with complete malice knowing that even the smallest of complaints can cost the other person their job. Now, if your entire career that you have worked hard at and done real great things over many years was in jeopardy because a man or woman was scorned, would you fight to defend your livelihood? A civilian does not usually have to worry about an ex calling their former partner's boss over an argument they had. But when it happens to a Police Officer, it is looked at like the 'crime of the century'. Arguments are arguments. Any relationship will have them. Yet a Police Officer is at risk of losing his or her job. So much for being human.
Has THIS ever happened to you?
Have you had a real good 12+ year career going, doing real great things receiving numerous letters of commendations, merit raises and praises from your Superiors and then one morning wake up, look at the headline of your local newspaper and see your name printed in bold letters followed by a FIVE PAGE article about the negative things in your jacket? A reporter took a handful of infractions from this Officer's file, and decided that she would use him as ... what .. I am still not sure? I could not wrap my head around the point of the article she has written about a GOOD Deputy she knows nothing about who does a job she has never done and yet felt it necessary and worthwhile to bring attention to. Now, in all fairness, I will attach the link to the newspaper she wrote this article, taking you right to the first of FIVE pages but I want you to read the PARTS of the file she chose to put out there closely. Read the wording in these "write-ups" carefully. This person tried to make something so huge out of nothing. Going so far as calling this "A DISTURBING HISTORY". Keep in mind, this was just a handful of days in this Man's career and makes him sound like he is so out of control and should not be wearing a badge. I think it was so unfair, uncalled for and totally unprofessional in the journalism field. But that is just my opinion.
One thing everyone should always think about: The Police Officer who gives you a ticket in the morning may be the same Police officer who will give you his life that night.
~Nessie~
