........This is a start of who I am, but not all......... PROFILE OF A POLICE OFFICER He stands on a busy corner in the community that he protects. Although he is surrounded by people, he is isolated. People walk by and see only the uniform, the badge, or the duty belt loaded down with the tools of his trade. He is either the asshole who gave them a ticket, or the angel, who rescued them from a volatile situation. He is rarely seen as a regular man just doing a job he is passionate about. He has completed rigorous training aimed at keeping himself, his fellow officers, and the public safe. In addition to this training, he may have a college degree. Although his training has been meticulous, the best education he has comes from veteran officers and experience on the street. On the street, he sees humankind at its worst. He routinely deals with the dregs of society and the broken victims left in the wake of their destructive behavior. The battered children, the broken women, and the bodies of dead innocents are an all too common sight for him. These and other horrific images are burned into his brain and etched upon his soul. Despite this he is expected to be pleasant and courteous while making a traffic stop or dealing with the public in general. The public, however, is not restrained by such expectations. This officer of the law has been repeatedly told how to or how not to do his job by the citizens he protects. Yet, none are willing to take on his job. The desciption of his job is "to uphold and enforce the law." This does not begin to cover the many roles a police officer must perform on any given day. He must be a mediator, a social worker, a counselor to the traumatized, a babysitter of neglected children, a guardian of the helpless, a mentor to the young, and an educator of personal safety. He gives his all to make a difference in the lives of others. Yet, he is a study in self-sacrifice. He rarely gets to eat a warm meal, and when he does it is usually interrupted by someone who doesn't mean to bother him, but does so anyway. While working overtime, he deprives his family of his time. Many officers sacrifice their marriages and family life into non-existance. Yet, he is asked to overlook his pain and loss. People think of him as a cynical hardass, but what they do not know is that he is driven by a fear. It is not the fear of being shot or hurt on the job, as most sane people would fear, but the fear of not being able to help someone who can not help themselves. It is this fear that compels him to don his uniform everyday. So maybe the next time you encounter a police officer, you will look beyond the badge to the man inside the uniform. Just a man doing his best to serve and protect you.

Many people have asked me questions about my job, the who's, what's, where's, when's and more often than not the why's. Most of the time I just look at them and smile knowing that they would not understand if I tried to explain all of it. I have never been able to. So after a long time this came to me and it is a start in the effort to better understand who we are, that person in the uniform that you see everyday and you usually will make some colorful remark about. WE WORK BECAUSE OF YOU! We believe that you deserve a better life and we sacrifice much of our own to that purpose and that purpose alone. We don't ask for money or prestige...only alittle respect. An honest "Thank You" from someone means more to a police officer than anything. So when your with your family and friends.... take a moment and think about the officer out on the street trying to make sure you have the things that you cherish the most.
It is more than a job that we do.....

A POLICEMAN'S PRAYER
The policeman stood and faced his God,
which must always come to pass.
He hoped his shoes were shining,
just as brightly as his brass.

"Step forward now, policeman.
How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?
To My church have you been true?"

The policeman squared his shoulders
and said, "No Lord. I guess I ain't.
Because those who carry badges,
can't always be a saint."

"I've had to work most Sundays,
and at times my talk was rough...
and sometimes I've been violent
because the streets are awful tough."

"But I never took a penny,
that wasn't mine to keep...
though I worked a lot of overtime
when the bills got just too steep."

"And I never passed a cry for help,
though at times I shook with fear.
And sometimes, God forgive me,
I wept unmanly tears."

"I know I don't deserve a place
among the people here.
They never wanted me around
except to calm their fear."

"If you've a place for me here, Lord,
it needn't be so grand.
I never expected or had too much,
But, if you don't...I'll understand."

There was silence all around the throne,
where saints had often trod,
as the policeman waited quietly
for the judgement of his God.

"Step forward now, policeman
You've borne your burdens well.
Come walk a beat on heaven's streets.
You've done your time in hell."


WHEN A COP SLEEPS

Sometimes when a cop sleeps, the demons come.
The demons bring all the things you want to forget.
The tears, the sweat, the spit and the blood,
Oh God the blood.

The demons bring the broken bodies from the wrecks
the sickening smell of death and the kids.
Oh God please, not the kids.

Mainly the demons bring the eyes...
the hatred and desperation in the eyes of the people you fight,
the pleading and pain of the people you try to help,
and the quiet and blankness of death from the ones you couldn't.

The demons bring sounds too....
the sounds of tires skidding and metal crunching from the wrecks,
the gunshots that seem so loud on TV yet so muffled on the street,
the screams and crying that all blend together after a while.

The demons won't leave...
Alcohol and sleeping pills work for a while
but they come back.

Some have used their own deaths to flee from them,
but most of us are scared that in causing our own death....
we'll be with them forever.

But the demons aren't all that bad,
it's better for the demons to come in your sleep,
than for the angels to come during your shift.

They say that if you're time comes on the job,
your fallen brothers come back to take you home.

So the next time you see a cop having a bad day and he seems irritated,
and you think "What a jerk!"
Stop for a moment and wonder:

What demons came to him last night or what new ones did he meet today?