THE TRUTH ABOUT COPS
As you read the following excerpt from an unknown author keep in mind the following statistics:
* We have roughly 700,000 Police officers in the US who create a fine blue line between peace and chaos for hundreds of millions of US citizens.
* 200 of these officers are killed in the line of duty each year, a number that is rising.
* Another 250 officers were shot but saved by ballistics (bullet proof) vests.
* 200,000 police officers are criminally assaulted each year.
* 15,000 of these officers require hospitalization each year.
* 300 police officers commit suicide each year as a direct result of the job.
A POLICEMAN IS....
A policeman is a composite of what all men are a mingling of saint and sinner, dust and deity. Cold statistics wave the fan over the stinkers, underscoring instances of dishonesty and brutality because they are news.
What they REALLY mean is cops are exceptional, unusual -- not commonplace.
Buried under the froth is the fact that less than one half of one percent of policemen disgrace the uniform. That's a better average than among the clergymen.
He is of all men, one of the most needed, yet most unwanted. A strangely nameless creature that is "sir" to his face, and "pig" to his back.
In an instant he must make decisions which require months for a lawyer. If he hurries, he is careless, deliberate, and lazy. He must be first to an accident, infallible with diagnoses. He must be able to restart breathing, stop bleeding, tie splints and above all be sure the victim goes home without a limp, or expect to be sued.
The police officer must know every gun, draw on the run and shoot where it doesn't hurt. He must be able to whip two men twice his size and half his age without damaging his uniform, or being brutal.
If he gets hit he's a coward, if he hits you he's a bully, if he's friendly he's a flirt, if not he's a grouch.
A policeman must know everything and not tell. He must know where sin is yet not partake. A policeman is a minister ... social worker ...diplomat ... tough guy ... and a shoulder to cry on. The acting father of a society that offers little support to him in return.
The policeman must from a single human hair, describe the crime, the weapon, and the criminal, and tell you where he is hiding. If he catches the crook he got lucky, if not a dunce.
If he gets promoted he has political clout, if not a dullard.
He runs files and writes reports until his eyes ache to build a case against a dangerous felon, who will get dealed out by a shameless lawyer, or an honorable judge who isn't.
He also is a genius, for he somehow feeds a family on a cop's salary. A token reminder of society’s shameful unwillingness to pay him half of what he's worth.
