Kids and cops

Ed1937

Yesterday, the kids in the family were out in the street playing basketball. A cop came down the street, pulled his patrol car off to the side, and got in the game with them. How cool is that?

toolbeltexpert

That is so good on so many levels.

amicrazytoo

Wonderful!  We need more of that, or at least we need more people to witness actions like that.

A losing hand.

Terrific.

Lynne D

I love it!

Marie58

That's great!

White Crane

That is very cool, Ed!  Thanks for sharing.

Mint

Love it.

storycrafter

So nice to read about this. Thanks for sharing it, Ed!

Cherjer

That is trust building! Thanks for sharing!

Joydean

Thank you Ed for sharing. I wish more people would share the good things police do. Because of politics and a few bad cops they all suffer. Most people don’t see cops as being dad’s, or mom’s. Most of them are and love their kids as much as any parent. My son has been a office since he got out of the Marine’s, has always looked his job until a few years ago. 

So thanks and I hope the kids had a good time! 

Jo C.

Thanks Ed, and ditto Joydean.  Our son is a police officer.  He loves people and has done so much.  He is always kind to kids.  One time, a house was burglarized, there was a young boy with tears whose piggy bank was stolen; the boy had a written list of how many quarters, nickles and dimes was in his bank along with a few dollar bills.  After work, my son went to a local store and got the exact number of coins and dollar bills . . . next day he went back to the house and told the boy that the burglar had dropped the piggy bank and it was smashed, but that the burglar did not stop running to pick up the money on the ground; he gave the boy the exact money that had been on the list and was rewarded by pure sparkles of joy from the child.

He especially looks out for the aged, and has multiple times bought groceries for such folks who did not have enough food and got them referred to a helping agency.  He has helped coordinate with financial assistance to get a mother and sister into the state for a man in his 30's who was dying alone and wanted to see his family; they made it three days before he died.  He has also kindly helped find the home of a person with dementia who he found walking bottom half naked down a sidewalk with a walker heading toward a busy boulevard.  He will especially go out of his way to help those in need who suffer and those who have dementia.  Kindness goes a long way one human being to another.

Halloween, every year, he helps set up a celebration for children at the station.  He also has set up fund raising barbeques and has coordinated other fund raising for helping people in special circumstances.  He and his wife love dogs; he is known at the sheriff's station as "the dog whisperer."  If a sad and needy lost dog is brought into the station or found in the field by other officers, they make sure son knows after he is off duty. He is dedicated to a "no kill" setting if the owners cannot be found. He will not send a dog to a kill shelter no matter what.  Ahem; he and his wife now own four rescue dogs.  One of them, a very old lady dog with a white muzzle was found by him when he was on patrol.  The poor dog was under a truck after having been rode over.  Owner was never able to be found. She was skinny with ribs showing, big patches of her fur was missing; well, he brought her to the vet on his own money.  Could not find room at a no kill shelter so he kept her; she looks like a chihuahua mixed with some dachsund.  She is now plump, has a shiny coat, is happy and dotes on son.  Go figure.

So much more to we human individuals, and like everyone else, police officers are indeed individuals.

So much more while still doing all the regular police work and some pretty hard and dangerous stuff.  Son has had some close calls and it is not easy for parents and spouses of officers to feel this risk every single day. 

So often, all officers get blamed for what others in bad acts have done; they get the disdain and disgust and diatribes and even dangerous attacks by people who do not even know them.  I recall one time when he pulled over a car that had turned down the wrong side of a busy street driving on the wrong side for some time with traffic blaring . . . turns out the driver was a city council person of another city who told son that if son dared give him a ticket,  he was going to report him for police harrassment and no one would ever believe son because he was a council person; he in fact was going to call the police department captain and put in a complaint about him being harrassed and cursed at by son which never happened.  Son gave the ticket.

Son has a small tape recorder which he and a lot of officers use during their shifts putting information in that they will want to remember later.  At the very first words that this person began his diatribe, son reached into pocket and turned on the record button. Sure enough; son got called in by his captain re a complaint made by this person . . . son simply set the recorder on the desk and pushed the play button.  Captain said he had a hard time re the complaint because son had always had such good feedback.  Son is actually pleased with the new uniform cameras where everything is recorded.

Sadly though, son is feeling somewhat burned out; it has been a very hard time for officers these last years and it cumulatively is taking a heavy toll on many of them; stress is high, especially for those who have been in the field for some tiime.  Really hard to even find a lot of good recruits for new officers any more due to the overwhelming negatives and violence toward them.

Being "on the inside," gives one some not always seen perspective - thank you Ed, for the light heart and sharing that sweet moment with us.

J.

caberr

Very cool!