The Great Police Officer
Well, Mr. Citizen, it seems you’ve figured me out. I seem to 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 hell 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 your 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 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 lousy 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.)
