I have been irritated the past few months by people who have been really hard on the police for a variety of reasons, most recently the YouTube video from St. Paul. When I see this, I am concerned in more ways than one, both from the side of the office and also those around the incident.
First, think about the life of a police officer. Having a policeman around the house is awkward when friends
drop by, and a man with a badge opens a door. The temperature in the room drops 20 degrees. If they are part of the party, people
perceive that badge gets in the way.
Suddenly, there isn't a normal guy in the crown; everyone becomes
a comedian and jokes about the police. "Don't drink too much, or the man with the
badge will run you in," or "How is it going, Dick Tracy? How many jaywalkers did
you pinch today". Then at once, those who are known as police lose their first name… they are called copper, pig, dick, flatfoot, a bull, john law, bad news, trouble, fuzz, the heat, pick the poison... They are called everything but a policeman.
Often, being the police is not much of a life unless you like missing important family events because a homicide happens, not unless you like working Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays at lower than average pay. They are paid enough that if they pinch
the pennies, they put the kids through college but have to learn about Europe on
TV.
They spend years on the beat where they arrest a drunken
prostitute, and she destroys the uniform.
Years ago, the office had to pay for a new uniform. Police get a front-row acquaintance with the world's diverse and elite. Pimps, addicts, thieves, bums, drunks, girls who cannot keep
an address and men who care, tyrants, liars, cheats, con men, and many in skid
row. They see the heartbreaks, such as beaten wives or girlfriends. They see firsthand beaten, neglected, underfed and molested kids with broken arms kids or broken legs. They see dead kids, lost kids, homeless kids, hit-and-run kids, sick kids, and dying kids. They see the old
and homeless, the ones often nobody wants, the pensioners, the people who walk
the street cold, hungry, and homeless.
They work daily and try to pick up the pieces
of many lives while preserving their own sanity. They often go on a call without knowing whom they will meet. They
could meet a kid with a knife, a crazed person with a gun, ex-cons with nothing
to lose, or an angry mob who hates authority.
The cops get all the downtime to think and have to live with it. Lawyers and the courts have the police pounded with paperwork. They fill out a report when they are right and another if they are wrong. They may even fill out a report on a report so some twisted legal representation cannot skew the facts to let the killer go free. They have to write more words in life than most human beings.
They must live with doubt, anxiety, frustration, and court decisions changing the job's expectations and requirements. If it is not bad enough to deal with the basic criminal element, they sometimes have to defend themselves against lies, deceit, or YouTube videos taken out of context. They have to protect themselves from judges, juries, and, much of the time, the public, who has no idea what the day-to-day activities of a Police officer are. Most of the time, people are very unhappy with the outcome.
Think about it next time when we believe what we see… I am not saying the St. Paul Police were not out of line for how they treated that person, but I hear an angry crowd yelling and commenting in the background. They are telling him, "You gonna get paid, man". The crowd was antagonizing the police for trying to arrest a felon. This was a guy with a warrant and threatened to harm his girlfriend. I hear a person yelling about "getting
it all on tape." I could only
imagine that officer with his back to the crowd was wondering if someone in
that crowd would pull a gun and be the last day that officer would see his wife
and kids… I know I would be terrified if I was near that area.
I've been watching Dragnet lately, and in the words of Joe Friday, "Being a Policeman is a thankless, endless, glamour-less job that has got to be done, and I am dumb glad to be one of them." I, for one, am very glad when I see one, even if I am
speeding!
Carry on…
