Each day in our community people go about their lives in their normal manner and usually in a regular routine. They prepare themselves for work or school. They get their kids up and fix lunches, read the paper and have a cup of coffee. Then there are other folks that prepare themselves a little bit differently.
They do the all the aforementioned, but instead of pulling a colorful tie out of the closet they grab their body armor and adjust the straps. Instead of making sure they have their meeting notes in their briefcase, they check the slide on their Glock and perform a function check on their Taser.
While normal folks head into the office, their offices sit in their driveway. They will be riding around in their office most of the day. There is a lot of freedom in this job to move around and go where you want to, but sometimes you get sent to places you don't want to go.
There are no break periods or lunch hours. If you see one of them in Thornton's having a cup of coffee he is multi tasking. They are refueling their cars, taking a quick break, usually answering questions and giving directions all the while ensuring that by their presence this is one place that won't be robbed at least for the moment.
They don't consider themselves heroes, but they do more stuff everyday than most people do in a lifetime. They see things that nobody should ever have to see. They are sent into situations that would make most folks pale, but they continue to do it day in and day out. Sometimes they don't come home. They don't know if the next run they go on will be ?routine? or if the perpetrator is going to lay in wait for them. They must be constantly alert to danger signals because their lives and yours depend on it.
Last week one of our Officers was sent on a Domestic Run. There is really no such thing as a ?routine? run or a ?Routine? traffic stop. Every one of them is different because the players are constantly changing. There is at least one gun involved in every single run we make, that is the one we bring with us.
Last week one of our Officers was confronted with a naked man. Imagine if she would have gotten out of her car, gotten involved in the same confrontation and shot him without being wounded herself. The headlines would have been much different. They would have torn her apart. ?How can Police claim this man was a threat?? or ?Cops shoot unarmed naked man? He was naked and unarmed for God's sake! Why didn't they just use a Judo chop or use some Jedi mind control technique?
This story has meandered all over town and I will try and get to the point. Andrea, like many of our Officers is an everyday hero. She chose this line of work as did most of us in order to make a difference. She chose to put herself in harm's way. She and every Officer like every Soldier, Sailor, Airman & Marine do it for their community and their country.
Now here is the crux of this rambling diatribe. We often think we are alone. We often think that nobody cares. We often feel that we serve an ungrateful master. We are wrong on most counts. We have a lot of support. We have a lot of people that do care. They depend on us and trust us to be there when ?you know what? hits the fan. We are there for them and they are there for us.
We have our dispatchers and call takers working to get us all the information and help that we need. We have Firefighters, Paramedics & EMT's poised to help us on the scene if we get hurt. We have Doctors and Nurses that will do everything within their power to keep us alive. We have brother and sister officers that will risk everything to get to us in those critical moments.
Last week we also saw several heroes come to Andrea's aid that we never would have anticipated. There was a nurse who came to her aid before the suspect was subdued. There was a 66 year old guy, unarmed named Ronald Knust who rushed out and tackled the perpetrator and was shot in the ankle. Once the back-up Officers got the subject subdued and started attending to the injured he held pressure on his own wound and told the Officers to take care of her first. Officers on the scene recall him crying because he couldn't get to her in time and because he couldn't do more.
I came away that morning with a profound feeling of relief. I was relieved that my Sister Officer didn't die in the line of duty. I was relieved that I didn't have to relive the gut wrenching sorrow I felt 4 years ago when Peter was murdered. I was happy that I won't be wearing another wristband for the rest of my life as a reminder. I was humbled by the everyday people that came to her aid. I was reminded that there are real heroes in our community that will be there when we need them. Some of them wear the uniform and others don't, but they are out there.
I thank God for them.