Have you ever asked Why

[toby101]

I am putting this in here so everyone can answer.

Have you every driven by an serious accident and start to wonder, if I left at XXX amount of time. Would I have been involved or seen it.

Also do you ask yourself why did I decide to go into this career.


At the moment, I am kinda going through this.

[WTPD3534]

Does the thought cross my mind sometimes.....sure. I look at it like this though, how many accidents have you avoided by leaving 5 minutes early or late that you'll never even know about. Life is a gamble only thing you can do is live it.

[Spee-Dee]

After my car accident I asked myself what would have happened to the kid crossing the street had my car not been there to get hit. If she didn't see my big car, she probably didn't see the little kid.

[Caspertoo]

Every accident I respond to or see, it just reminds me that perps with guns are not the most dangerous aspect of this career.

[NJladyGlock21]

I am putting this in here so everyone can answer.

Have you every driven by an serious accident and start to wonder, if I left at XXX amount of time. Would I have been involved or seen it.

Also do you ask yourself why did I decide to go into this career.


At the moment, I am kinda going through this.

Hey Toby.
I think that any human has gone through the 'what ifs' before. It's normal! Of course, it hits harder when someone you know is involved but we all go through the questions in our head.

I do go through times when I ask myself why I chose this career. Usually it's in frustration or just a ****ed of state about the departmental BS but I just have to remind myself that it's everywhere. Other times it may be an eye opener on the street dealing with animals that have better and more weapons than I do. I know why I am here and I do love my job.

[ctt]

I do it all the time. Stuff happens, best anyone can do is be prepared for what is foreseeable while alive and have a firm belief in what awaits on the other side.

[FeatherStorm5]

Have you every driven by an serious accident and start to wonder, if I left at XXX amount of time. Would I have been involved or seen it.

I think it's a very normal thing, Toby. I'm a firm believer that "everything happens for a reason"...good or bad. We as humans want answers right away, but sometimes answers don't come until years after the fact.

When I was 18, I was foolishly driving (speeding) on an old country road. I was PMSing and just having a bad day. I was on my way to the store to get a gallon of Rocky Road . I'll be damned, if on my already bad day, that a County officer was running radar, thanks to the residents calling in complaints of speeders. This was my 1st time getting pulled over....I was a wreck. I apologised and thanked the officer for my ticket (yes, I always thank cops for my tickets, LOL). Did this further ruin my day? WIthout a doubt!

But, the following week, I treaded down the same road (only slower this time!!) and there was a grave site with flowers, crosses, and a sign that said "we'll miss you" a few feet from where I was pulled over. To this day, I truly believe that the officer who pulled me over was an angel sent from heaven. If he hadn't of pulled me over, that might have been my grave site.

Everything happens for a reason...you just have to be patient waiting for the answer.

Also do you ask yourself why did I decide to go into this career.

I'm not a cop, but I am a TC and a soon-to-be cops wife. I think I see/hear things that the majority of spouses wouldn't--things that spouses of cops shouldn't be subjected to, IMHO. I'm fortunate that he talks to me about the job--his fears, his hopes, etc. After listenng to other cop wive's complaining that their husbands don't talk at all, I do feel blessed that mine opens up to me.

It's easy to question your profession, Toby, but I think that, when you really do start questioning your profession, that it's time to get out. When someone asks you, "What made you become a police officer?", you should have an answer available in a snap. If you have to think about that answer or if you don't feel as strongly about that answer as you did years ago, it might be time for you to get out or go into another area of LE and get off the street.

The day that he views his job as "just another job" or the day that he asks himself "why this profession?", is the day he needs to turn in his badge, IMHO. He's very tactical-minded and trains (mentally) daily and takes police training classes whenever offered. Other cops in his dept. have an "I dont care, it's never going to happen attitude" and they don't feel that continued training is important. We both believe that the best defense that LE's can have is continued/daily mental training. He had a police officer Survival class not too long ago that taught him alot about mental prepardeness. He had/has nightmare's over the subject material....but the knowledge he obtained has really helped him keep his head in the game. (Toby, if you're interested in the mind training, PM me and I'll patch you through to Len and he can tell you more).

Toby, why did you chose LE as a career?

[JustDontDie]

I think it's a very normal thing, Toby. I'm a firm believer that "everything happens for a reason"...good or bad. We as humans want answers right away, but sometimes answers don't come until years after the fact.

When I was 18, I was foolishly driving (speeding) on an old country road. I was PMSing and just having a bad day. I was on my way to the store to get a gallon of Rocky Road . I'll be damned, if on my already bad day, that a County officer was running radar, thanks to the residents calling in complaints of speeders. This was my 1st time getting pulled over....I was a wreck. I apologised and thanked the officer for my ticket (yes, I always thank cops for my tickets, LOL). Did this further ruin my day? WIthout a doubt!

But, the following week, I treaded down the same road (only slower this time!!) and there was a grave site with flowers, crosses, and a sign that said "we'll miss you" a few feet from where I was pulled over. To this day, I truly believe that the officer who pulled me over was an angel sent from heaven. If he hadn't of pulled me over, that might have been my grave site.

Everything happens for a reason...you just have to be patient waiting for the answer.



I'm not a cop, but I am a TC and a soon-to-be cops wife. I think I see/hear things that the majority of spouses wouldn't--things that spouses of cops shouldn't be subjected to, IMHO. I'm fortunate that he talks to me about the job--his fears, his hopes, etc. After listenng to other cop wive's complaining that their husbands don't talk at all, I do feel blessed that mine opens up to me.

It's easy to question your profession, Toby, but I think that, when you really do start questioning your profession, that it's time to get out. When someone asks you, "What made you become a police officer?", you should have an answer available in a snap. If you have to think about that answer or if you don't feel as strongly about that answer as you did years ago, it might be time for you to get out or go into another area of LE and get off the street.

The day that he views his job as "just another job" or the day that he asks himself "why this profession?", is the day he needs to turn in his badge, IMHO. He's very tactical-minded and trains (mentally) daily and takes police training classes whenever offered. Other cops in his dept. have an "I dont care, it's never going to happen attitude" and they don't feel that continued training is important. We both believe that the best defense that LE's can have is continued/daily mental training. He had a police officer Survival class not too long ago that taught him alot about mental prepardeness. He had/has nightmare's over the subject material....but the knowledge he obtained has really helped him keep his head in the game. (Toby, if you're interested in the mind training, PM me and I'll patch you through to Len and he can tell you more).

Toby, why did you chose LE as a career?

You're amazing.

[Chaplain Keppy]

I am putting this in here so everyone can answer.

Have you every driven by an serious accident and start to wonder, if I left at XXX amount of time. Would I have been involved or seen it.

Also do you ask yourself why did I decide to go into this career.


At the moment, I am kinda going through this.

Toby, I don't know you, so I don't where you are in your professional life-- new, experienced, whatever. In a career as challenging as law enforcement, you can go through a lot of different stages of motivation and feelings about your profession. What gets you into it may be very different from what keeps you there. These questions are important, because they can signal times you are being invited to grow in your understanding. If they are new to you, it can mean your eyes are being opened up to issues you weren't aware of previously, or that your old way of making sense of things is no longer sufficient for you.

A lot of people entering law enforcement have the ideal of helping others, saving their community, putting away bad guys. As they live into the various realities of LE, they can experience disillusionment. Then comes a really crucial period: can they adjust their frame of reference to find meaning in their work that takes their new experiences into account, or do they decide it is all meaningless and futile?

Or sometimes it is exposure to trauma that poses the questions. Things that used to make sense may no longer make sense; the feeling of safety in the world is gone, and the world looks a lot different from their new place of vulnerability. Again, it is a crucial period: can they adjust their frame of reference to deal with this new reality, or do they fall into cynicism or fatalism?

It's not fast work to rebuild a frame of reference to take such things into account, but it is obviously important work. You can lose a lot, but you can also gain a lot-- a wisdom based on reality instead of illusion or naivete. This can be the time that determines whether or not you will be a "long-distance runner".

And it begins with asking questions such as you are asking.

Good luck with your search!

[toby101]

Thanks guys for all your post here. It was one of those days where I came across an deadly ped/semi accident.

So some of you asked why I am going into this career is to help people in anyway I can. Well I am NOT going to go out and save the world. But I believe if you can help one person a day, you did a great job.

[Chaplain Keppy]

Thanks guys for all your post here. It was one of those days where I came across an deadly ped/semi accident.

So some of you asked why I am going into this career is to help people in anyway I can. Well I am NOT going to go out and save the world. But I believe if you can help one person a day, you did a great job.

Yes-- and in LE, you often do have the chance to make a difference.

It does take some getting used to, though, to deal with so much death and destruction.

[pawncop]

Have been in LE as a reserve officer now for 26 years and been in healthcare for over 36 years. Lot of time spent in ER and ICU, now work in pediatric ER.

There have been a number I've wondered "why?" nad I have come to peace many years ago by accepting that I was where I was meant to be. I cannot stop bad thngs from happening, I can try my dead level best to make it a little better by being there.

[Soon2Be]

Thanks guys for all your post here. It was one of those days where I came across an deadly ped/semi accident.

So some of you asked why I am going into this career is to help people in anyway I can. Well I am NOT going to go out and save the world. But I believe if you can help one person a day, you did a great job.

In the summer, while I was away travelling, I received a late-night phone call from my sister telling me her husband died. As she was sobbing on the phone to me, she told me that the officers that she spoke to were kind, considerate, and caring.

Being so far away, and not able to be there for her, I was very comforted by the fact that my local police dept. took care of my sister.

You people make more of a difference than you realize. God bless.