Ok folks this may annoy some of you, but it needs to be said. And before anyone gets paranoid it is not directed toward anyone specific, just general thoughts running through my head. Ive been a cop for over 21 years in which time Ive been kicked, punched, bit, spit at and bled on. More than once Ive had to sit on pins and needles while waiting for blood test results to come back because I was exposed to bodily fluids of people known to be infected by HIV or hep C. Ive seen more dead bodies caused by everything from natural causes to car accidents to suicides than I care to talk about. Ive missed holidays, birthdays, anniversaries and other family functions. Ive had a number of close calls. Ive been at the scene of several officer involved shootings, have been involved in one and can tell you from personal experience exactly what a bullet passing close by your head sounds like. Ive seen friends careers cut short by work related injuries and have buried a friend killed in the line of duty. Although some of these things I never expected to see in the area where I work they dont bother me, they are at times part of the job, I knew that going into it and it is what we do. The part of the job I didnt expect is being criticized by the media, various experts and friends and family. Ive dealt with 2 decades of having people who have no idea what my job is like tell me how it should be done. I would never propose to tell someone in a career I know nothing about how to do their job but plenty of people feel qualified to tell me how to do mine. Ive endured 21+ years of hearing friends stories of how they out-toughed or out-smarted the cop they last dealt with and lets not forget the no offense but statements knowing that whatever follows is sure to be offensive. Now cops are being made out to be the bad guys for defending their lives. All cops are being judged by the actions of a few by the same people who tell the cops that they cant judge any group of people by the actions of a few. Cops lives are being threatened and cops are being murdered at random simply because of the uniform they wear and the stupid little comments and cop jokes that used to roll off my back are no longer tolerable. If there is a legitimate question or discussion about an issue involving law enforcement that is one thing but if anyone on my friends list engages in any of the general cop bashing that is going around or likes one of the many posts Ive seen that end with the line Like = F the cops you will be unceremoniously unfriended. I dont mean to offend anyone but many comments are made with no regard for whether I am offended so offending people is not my concern at this time. Ok, rant over. I now return you to your regularly scheduled facebook scrolling.
Posted on: Sat, 27 Dec 2014 02:05:07 +0000