Tears For A Cop - God's Version

Submitted by Ruth Benallie. Author Unknown.
(Featured in the Bridge Newsletter -- National Police Suicide Foundation.)

When God Made Peace Officers

When the Lord was creating peace officers, he was into His sixth day of overtime. An angel appeared and said, "You're doing a lot of idling around on this one."

And the Lord said, "Have you read the specs on this order? A peace officer has to be able to run five miles through alleys in the dark, scale walls, enter homes the health inspector wouldn't touch, and not wrinkle his uniform. He has to be able to sit in an undercover car all day at a stakeout, cover a homicide scene that night, canvas the neighborhood for witnesses and testify in court the next day. He has to be in top physical condition at all times, running on black coffee and half-eaten meals. And he has to have six pairs of hands."

The angel shook her head slowly and said, "Six pairs of hands....no way!"

"It's not the hands that are causing me problems," said the Lord. "It's the three pairs of eyes the officer has to have."

"That's on the standard model?" asked the angel.

The Lord nodded. "One pair that sees through a bulge in a pocket before he asks, "May I see what's in there, Sir?" (When he already knows and wishes he'd taken that accounting job) Another pair here in the side of his head for his partner's safety. And another pair of eyes here in front that can look reassuringly at a bleeding victim and say, "You'll be alright, Ma'am....when he knows it isn't so."

"Lord, " said the angel, touching his sleeve. Rest and work on this tomorrow."

"I can't", said the Lord, "I already have a model that can talk a 250 pound drunk into a patrol car without incident and feed a family of five on a civil service paycheck."

The angel circled the model of the peace officer very slowly. "Can it think?" she asked.

"You bet", said the Lord. "It can tell you the elements of a hundred crimes, recite Miranda warnings in its sleep, detain, investigate, search, and arrest a gang member on the street in less time than it takes five learned judges to debate the legality of the stop...and it still keeps its sense of humor. This officer also has phenomenal personal control. He can deal with crime scenes painted in hell, coax a confession from a child abuser, comfort a murder victim's family, and then read in the daily newspaper how law enforcement isn't sensitive to the rights of criminal suspects."

Finally, the angel bent over and ran her finger across the cheek of the peace officer. "There's a leak," she pronounced. "I told you that you were trying to put too much into this model."

"That's not a leak," said the Lord. "It's a tear."

"What's a tear for?" asked the angel.

"It's for bottled up emotions, for fallen comrades, for commitment to that funny piece of cloth called the American flag for justice."

"You're a genius," said the angel.

The Lord looked somber, "I didn't put it there," He said, "It comes with the job."

Sad day

One of our guys at work died yesterday. He was doing a routine thing, something that is common for his job. Then he jumped a fence and he was gone. It brought back to the front of all our mind (in the department) just how short life can be and how quickly a person can be gone. Psalms 144:4 "Man is like a breath; his days are like a fleeting shadow." So that is why I'm posting these two articles. May we take time during this joyous holiday season to remember those who serve us and keep us safe even at the cost of their own life.

Tears of a Cop - Under Pressure

I have been where you fear to go...
I have seen what you fear to see...
I have done what you fear to do...
All these things I've done for you.

I am the one you lean upon...
The one you cast your scorn upon...
The one you bring your troubles to...
All these people I've been for you.

The one you ask to stand apart...
The one you feel should have no heart...
The one you call the man in blue...
But I am human just like you.

And through the years I've come to see...
That I'm not what you ask of me...
So take this badge and take this gun...
Will you take it? Will anyone?

And when you watch a person die...
And hear a battered baby cry...
Then so you think that you can be
All those things you ask of me...?

"Tears Of A Cop" - author unknown

Which Jane Austen Character am I most like?

Going back to the grind

I just finished my first week of going back to work since my nice long vacation. Man is it hard getting back into the grind of daily life again! Even my muscles don't remember exercise again, which explains why I am so sore right now. But my trainer enlightened me to "muscle memory" and how after a period of not doing the exercise routine then you get back to the gym again. Your muscles apparently have a memory of when you were fit and can return back to the size you were then given time. That's the tough part is time, you could be in serious pain for a few weeks depending on how long ago it was you were in shape and want to get back to that shape.

And speaking of getting back into the grind at work. I get back and they toss me right into the hurricane again. They give me a trainee and committee meetings begin again for our big banquet in April. Also to top it off, I applied for being a radio dispatcher so I can go in the radio room and just deal with the units directly. I get the test date in the mail and it just happens to fall on the busiest day of the week for me...Monday. So come December 17th, I will only have about 4 hours of sleep that day what with taking the dispatcher test, working out with my trainer and still doing a full shift that night at work. But I hope you will pray for me, I really need to pass the test and be in the top three. This new position will be a new challenge and help out in the finances department too. Also if I know how to use the radio then I can go to any law enforcement and ambulance department and work for them. What I do isn't "just a job" it is a profession. Not many people can be a 911 Dispatcher and handle the job with all its stresses, so if you have the skill you are marketable. But I digress =)