I am truly blessed to have my family and friends who support me every single day, especially my wife and for that I am grateful. This is dedicated to my wife, my family, friends and everyone who supports Law Enforcement.
My chosen profession is inherently dangerous as you may all know. I know it isn’t the most dangerous job compared to many other jobs. What separates LEO’s from all other dangerous professions is the fact that there are people out there who want to cause us harm or even kill us, just for wearing a uniform. The physical threat to our own lives is well known, therefore we have protective equipment and training to minimize those threats. Every morning, just before I leave for work, I always kiss my wife good bye and she always tells me to be safe. I take what she says to heart and let it sink in each time, never taking it for granted. It turns on a switch for me, to remind me that I’m important to her and that I need to do whatever it takes to come back home to her.
Not only do we have the physical danger to deal with, we have to deal with people at the worst times of their lives. Our emotional and mental health also takes a beating day to day by the things we see and hear. I fortunately haven’t seen things are too gnarly yet. I can’t say the same for a lot of my friends and partners who work patrol operations or investigations.
We are all human and I’d be lying to you if I said that I’m not affected by all of this. While I’m on duty, I need to be professional and do my job. Therefore I need to keep whatever I’m thinking, feeling to myself. It’s never good to hold something in and therefore you need an outlet. My wife is a great listener and she always is available to hear what I have to say about things that bother me or just how my day is going. Unlike the general public and the media, she listens to what I tell her and tries to see and understand where I’m coming from. I couldn’t have asked for a better partner in life. I also have friends who are not members of Law Enforcement, that also give me additional outlets.
It’s been said many times over that this profession is a thankless one, we don’t do it for the thanks we get and that is definitely a true fact, however we do get many thanks from members of the community that we serve.
Despite all the negativity that is at an all-time high right now with the media and social media, there is a silent majority of citizens who support us in what we do.
It’s a hard job to do, especially today. I didn’t get into this way of life because it was easy, but because I feel to this day, that it is the right thing to do.
I cannot thank those who stand by us and speak out for us enough for your support. Thank You.