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A touching story....
As some of you know I collect diecast vehicles, and while cruising around on a diecast website forum the other day, I saw this and realized the truth that it reflects:
A POLICE OFFICER SPEAKS
by Trooper Mitchell Brown of the Virginia State
Police
Well, Mr. Citizen, it seems you've figured me out. I
fit neatly into the
category where you've placed me. I'm stereotyped,
standardized,
characterized, classified, grouped, and always
typical. Unfortunately, the
reverse is true. I can never figure you out. From
birth, you teach your
children that I'm the bogeyman, then you're
shocked when they identify with
my traditional enemy ... the criminal! You accuse
me of coddling criminals
... until I catch your kids doing wrong.
You may take an hour for lunch and several coffee
breaks each day, but
point me out as a loafer for having one cup. You
pride yourself on your
manners, but think nothing of disrupting my meals
with your troubles. You
raise Cain with the guy who cuts you off in traffic,
but let me catch you
doing the same thing and I'm picking on you. You
know all the traffic laws
... but you've never gotten a single ticket you
deserve.
You shout "foul" if you observe me driving fast to a
call, but raise the
roof if I take more than ten seconds to respond to
your complaint. You call
it part of my job if someone strikes me, but call it
police brutality if I
strike back. You wouldn't think of telling your
dentist how to pull a tooth
or your doctor how to take out an appendix, yet you
are always willing to
give me pointers on the law. You talk to me in a
manner that would get you
a bloody nose from anyone else, but expect me to
take it without batting an
eye.
You yell that something's got to be done to fight
crime, but you can't be
bothered to get involved. You have no use for me at
all, but of course it's
OK if I change a flat for your wife, deliver your child
in the back of the
patrol car, or perhaps save your son's life with
mouth to mouth breathing,
or work many hours overtime looking for your lost
daughter.
So, Mr. Citizen, you can stand there on your
soapbox and rant and rave
about the way I do my work, calling me every name
in the book, but never
stop to think that your property, family, or maybe
even your life depends
on me or one of my buddies. Yes, Mr. Citizen, it's
me ... the cop!
The author of this article was Trooper Mitchell
Brown of the Virginia State
Police. He was killed in the line of duty two months
after writing the
article. As a salute to the millions of police officers
who put their lives
on the line for us everyday.
See my post entitled "A touching Story Part 2" for one of the responses that was made about the story...
A POLICE OFFICER SPEAKS
by Trooper Mitchell Brown of the Virginia State
Police
Well, Mr. Citizen, it seems you've figured me out. I
fit neatly into the
category where you've placed me. I'm stereotyped,
standardized,
characterized, classified, grouped, and always
typical. Unfortunately, the
reverse is true. I can never figure you out. From
birth, you teach your
children that I'm the bogeyman, then you're
shocked when they identify with
my traditional enemy ... the criminal! You accuse
me of coddling criminals
... until I catch your kids doing wrong.
You may take an hour for lunch and several coffee
breaks each day, but
point me out as a loafer for having one cup. You
pride yourself on your
manners, but think nothing of disrupting my meals
with your troubles. You
raise Cain with the guy who cuts you off in traffic,
but let me catch you
doing the same thing and I'm picking on you. You
know all the traffic laws
... but you've never gotten a single ticket you
deserve.
You shout "foul" if you observe me driving fast to a
call, but raise the
roof if I take more than ten seconds to respond to
your complaint. You call
it part of my job if someone strikes me, but call it
police brutality if I
strike back. You wouldn't think of telling your
dentist how to pull a tooth
or your doctor how to take out an appendix, yet you
are always willing to
give me pointers on the law. You talk to me in a
manner that would get you
a bloody nose from anyone else, but expect me to
take it without batting an
eye.
You yell that something's got to be done to fight
crime, but you can't be
bothered to get involved. You have no use for me at
all, but of course it's
OK if I change a flat for your wife, deliver your child
in the back of the
patrol car, or perhaps save your son's life with
mouth to mouth breathing,
or work many hours overtime looking for your lost
daughter.
So, Mr. Citizen, you can stand there on your
soapbox and rant and rave
about the way I do my work, calling me every name
in the book, but never
stop to think that your property, family, or maybe
even your life depends
on me or one of my buddies. Yes, Mr. Citizen, it's
me ... the cop!
The author of this article was Trooper Mitchell
Brown of the Virginia State
Police. He was killed in the line of duty two months
after writing the
article. As a salute to the millions of police officers
who put their lives
on the line for us everyday.
See my post entitled "A touching Story Part 2" for one of the responses that was made about the story...
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