My Thanks
This is a little something that I wrote to read at Church today, It went a little long so I just grabbed the points and threw them out, here is the complete version.
When Leeland asked me to give my testimony, my response was, I’ll have to think about it. Then, a few days later, when he reminded me that he was counting on me to get up here today and speak for a few minutes. I muttered a few things under my breath, some that I choose not to repeat in a place of worship, But then, after that, my mind started rolling, I, trying to understand, why was it important for me to speak? Why me?
Then it came to me, like a little whisper, it sounded something like “psst hey dummy, your Mother, Father, and most of your friends are police officers. You work for police officers. Who else would he ask?
For those who don’t know, my father gave the sate of Missouri 20+ years of his early life, as an Agent. He broke his back on the job 3 times, dislocated his shoulders in an effort to save a family in a flood. Was involved in three shootouts, and fought dozens of forest fires. When I was 8 years old I remember him being rushed to the hospitable because it hurt for him to breath. The Dr’s told my Dad that he could no longer work on the street, it would eventually kill him. He then returned to collage and received his Masters in public administration, and when I was 13 years old we moved to south east Georgia where he had taken the Job as Chief of Police in a small town. He served the rest of his career there trying to build and maintain a Police Department in one of the fastest growing areas in the country. The stress of the job finally got the better of him in 2003 and he retired early. My father enjoyed 5 years of retirement before he was put to rest in January of 2008.
I myself, at the age of 17 Broke out of the nest and decided to do my own thing, everyone expected me to go into law enforcement, except my Dad, and because that was what everyone expected I did quite the opposite.
I wandered from one job to the next found myself working with computers, strictly by chance, and in an effort to get out of a small town where everyone knew me I moved to Knoxville. At the age of 28 I managed to fall backwards into a technology position at the Sheriff’s office, here in Knox county.
I remember the day I called my dad and told him that I had started working for the Sheriff. His response was “Son, I thought I taught you better than that. Now why would you want to work there?”
I had been doing quite well in what my dad referred to as “the real world”, and he didn’t understand why I would want to put up with the politics, and headaches of government work.
“I miss them dad,” I said, “I miss knowing and working with the police,”
“Well son,” he said, “I guess it’s in your blood, you ran away for ten years, but you have came back.”
Over the next few months I found myself in the whirlwind of gossip and power plays, second guessing, and high school horseplay, that comes along with, what I like to call, “The joy of public safety”.
And I felt right at home.
Who can appreciate a police officer more than one who was raised by 2 of them?
Who knows them better than someone who works with them day and night?
I can say with most certainty that I have learned 95% of everything I know from a Police officer.
And the most important lesson that that an officer has taught me thus far is, that I am most defiantly, NOT a police officer.
See in order to be an Officer you have to be, a little off.
You have to be the kind of person that enjoys working with people. You know, the kind of people that beat their wives, that hurt and neglect their kids, and the ones that want you to raise their kids for them, and the kind of people that have no respect for their fellow man. And you have to treat these people, with dignity and respect, as you put them into the back seat of your car. The car that you, take very good care of, and spend most of your waking hours, this vehicle is your office, your second home. The car that they stink up, and try to destroy, on the way to intake.
These are people that try to bite you, spit in your face, call you every name and or word, that isn’t mentioned in polite company. And you, as an officer, are expected to call them sir or ma’am, and treat them better than they treat their own loved ones.
You are the person, who, deals with everyone on the very worse day of their life. Think about it, Have you ever had a really good day and thought “I’m gonna call 911. I want to have an officer come out to my place because this has just been a wonderful day. I just hope he can be part of it!”
An officer will have his job and life threatened daily, and will be sued many times in his or her career.
Now I would like to ask all of the officers in here today to please stand up.