To many of you, when you think of police officers, you might think of the flashing blue lights behind you as you are speeding on the freeway, or making a comment about the officer as he "abuses" his power and speeds passed you through the intersection. To some of you, you might think of them ruining your fun as you get pulled over and ticketed for drunk driving, doing a "nonharmful" substance. You might have been booked into jail and you think that the cop was just out to ruin your life, and now you hate them.
To many of you, you see a person directing traffic after what appears to be a fatal accident. Not thinking twice about what he may have seen.(What if there were kids in the car, a mangled body etc) You might see a story on the news about how a police officer stopped to play basketball with some kids and you will think one of two things "man, those cops are NOT doing their job, I do not pay them to play around" or you will think " what awesome guys to take a few minutes to show kids that cops are not the bad guys." You will see an article about a cop who had to shoot an animal and then all of a sudden he needs to be fired, death threats are pouring into his life and family. You don't see the articles on the police officers that get attacked by dogs, and you think nothing of this.
You might read about a child's death because of the lack of responsibility of this parents, you don't even think about the young police officer (who has a new born at home) that has to hold it together and be courteous and professional. He can't show emotion as he walks on scene and discovers the child's lifeless body. You might encounter a break in at your house, or car, and file a report. You might blame the cop for something that went wrong or you might blame them for not finding your stuff. Or you will be grateful that no one got hurt, and there is a chance that your items could be found.
You come home late at night, see that your front door is open. You call the police and an officer enters your house unknowingly of what dangers lurk inside. They clear it for you and station his car outside your house while he finishes up his reports so you can feel at ease in your home.
You hear news stories of officer shootings and you see all the comments on how they pulled the trigger to fast, or they should not allowed to use deadly force, etc. You also read stories about officer ambushes and officer deaths during search warrants, or arrests. You don't think twice about the family they have back at home. During the times they draw their weapon I know for a fact that they are thinking about their family at home and they are not going to let some law breaking scum bag (my words, not an officers words) take them away from their family.
When I see an officer I see a brother, a sister, an aunt, an uncle, a son, a daughter, a husband, a wife, a father, a mother. I see a person who sees dead bodies weekly weather it be from a murder, natural causes, suicide or accident. I see a person who deals with people who are high on drugs that do not want to go to jail and will do ANYTHING to not go to jail.
I see a person who literally walks out the door everyday to go to a job that is criticized, ruthless, dangerous, who has a chance of never walking into their home again.
I see a person who loves their job and has a passion for keeping the community safe. People mistake this for abuse of power and in return don't believe cops are out their to do good.
I see a person who gives up first birthdays, anniversaries, sharing a bed with their spouse, holidays and vacations, because their shift just happens to fall on those days.
I see a person who gets paid very little and has to pay out of pockets for many of things that is required by the department.
I see a person who is saddened by the mistakes and unprofessional actions by other officers. Those officers who do "abuse" power are NOT the majority.
I see a person who has a threat against them by the community they protect.
I see person who is human, who makes mistakes, who says things that might not be the best, who's adrenalin high might take over as they pull the dead beat husband off his beaten wife and might have gripped to tightly. The guy might sue over this, the local news catches wind of this and twists and turns the story and now the police officer is a hated man.
I see a person who makes plans with his wife for a date that is long over due. 20 min till shift change, he gets called to a rape. Calls his wife and tells her he will probably be another 3-4 hours.
I see a person who's family is going through the same struggles and worries that I go through.
When I see MY police officer. I see him put on his pants, his shirt, his socks, his boots, his vest. I see him check his radio, make sure his gun has ammo in it, check his flash light, load up his utility belt, and place his badge on his vest. Lastly I see him kiss our baby goodbye, pet the dogs, give me a kiss goodbye and walk out the door. I see a man in uniform and I see a police officer. But I see my husband. And I pray that I will see him again.
