The Thin Blue Line

The Thin Blue Line is a symbol often used by Law Enforcement in the United States .  It is often used to show respect for fallen officers but it also represents the Police as the line that stands between order and chaos, Good and evil. 

A few weeks ago Will had a friend contact him and ask for his advice on his consideration to become a Police Officer.  He told me he had sent him his thoughts on it and I asked if I could read it expecting it to be a short little paragraph with some encouragement but what I read was so much more than that.  I really really loved it.  It made me want to cry, laugh, and say a big Amen all at the same time. Maybe just because I have been a Police Officers wife for 9 years and observed so much of what he writes about through the wife point of view it was nice to hear it from his point of view.  It also made me want to go and hug and kiss him and tell him how proud of him I am and how much I love him.  So anyway I asked him if I could post it on my blog and he somewhat reluctantly agreed.  So if you have ever thought about being a Police Officer or wondered what its like to be one here you go:


First of all, I'm sorry you are unhappy at work at the moment. It happens to the best of us I suppose. If you are thinking about a career in police work, I would want you to be aware of a few things to begin with: Cops have a higher divorce rate than nearly any other career. Most cops end their career in very poor health and some don't live long in retirement (this is starting to change as more research into what causes those things comes out). Cops have a higher alcoholism rate than most careers (probably stress related). Cops start every day by putting on a vest designed to stop bullets (not all bullets though) because someone might try to kill them because they wear a badge. After they put that vest on, they put on a belt with a gun strapped to it in case they have to shoot someone trying to kill them or someone else. Your odds of being sued will go up dramatically. In my experience as an officer, I have helped people. I, with other officers, have literally saved lives on a couple of occasions, maybe more. I have been able to recover property that has been stolen, locate vehicles involved in hit and run accidents, and arrest people in domestic situations after they hurt the people that love them. I've even changed a few tires. The job offers tremendous potential to impact others. I say potential, because on a day to day basis it's not easy to point out situations where I've helped anybody with anything on some days. A large part of the time an officer is the secretary society uses to keep a record of all the unfortunate, distasteful, or really bad stuff that goes on. There are probably 50 reports in Emporia that I wrote for graffiti on public property, none of which were cleared. There are probably 500 more about people's private property being damaged, only a handful of which were cleared, one of which was extremely rewarding. There are thousands between Emporia and Fairview about things being stolen from people or businesses. There are very few that were followed up with an arrest, or a recovery of property. There are some times you just can't do anything. It can be frustrating. Depending on the department an officer works for, another large portion of your time will be spent in self initiated activities like writing parking tickets, and traffic tickets. While this can lead to the discovery of other illegal activity (DUI, drugs, active warrants) most of the time it's people out taking care of their business, on their way to the store, or work. While traffic tickets may encourage safer driving in a particular area, the people in that area aren't going to send a thank you note. They may not realize you were ever there, may resent the fact that you are there, and may be the people you are writing tickets to, but you will have the occasional guy slow down and thank you for being in the area. Most of your contact with the public in traffic enforcement is hard to see as being helpful, ("here's a ticket that costs as much as your days wages. You can thank me later.") But, as one of my wise sergeants told me, you have to try and understand that you don't know what you may have prevented, it may have been nothing, or you may have saved some kid's life who chased a ball into the street when that person was about to take that corner too fast. This is now the cliche section: You will spend 95% of your time dealing with 5% of the people. You will make a great case on a dirtbag and lose in court because the system fails sometimes. You will work weekends, holidays, your birthday, your anniversary, your wife's birthday, your kids' birthday, your kids' baseball games, and even some of your "days off." You will go to court in the morning after working the midnight shift and be told by the prosecuting attorney that the case was continued/dismissed/pleaded the day before. This is a thankless job (depends on your locality, the people in Fairview actually do give us some love now and then.)This job changes you. Cops have a dark sense of humor. Everyone lies when they talk to the police. I don't have the same friends as I did before I was a cop. The ones I still have always ask if I've shot anyone. When I tell people I'm a cop they recount the experience they had when they were (unjustly!) pulled over/ticketed/arrested/harassed. Most of the above is true, some of the numbers may be skewed. There's nothing wrong with being idealistic. A lot of officers start out there. But after a few years, idealism can turn to cynicism when you deal with the same people and the same problems and everyone you talk to lies to you. That cynicism can be a good thing, because if you don't trust anyone and expect the worst out of every situation, it can save your life on the job; but you don't want to bring it home. You have to develop a hardness in your personality, but you have to temper it with compassion to recognize those occasions when you can really help someone. After all, the simple goal of every department is "serve and protect," a motto a lot of cops hate, but really the simplest description of the job. I'm not trying to talk you out of anything, but I'm trying to be as upfront as I can be. Being an officer can be immensely rewarding, and a lot of fun, but the job burns out a lot of people. The guy I was training when I left Emporia was just made a training officer himself earlier this year. I heard from another friend that he quit police work about a month ago. At times I couldn't wait to go to work, and at times I wished I had the flu. Being a cop has opened my eyes to the fact that there is real evil in the world, and I feel a need to be in a position to be able to do something about it when able. I encourage you to continue your research. I would recommend riding along with departments to get a feel for what the day is like. I would pick several so you can see the differences in how things are done. I recommend you check out the eligibility requirements to make sure there's nothing prohibitive (but I don't think you'd have any issues), and get an idea what the testing process involves. I highly suggest you read the book "Emotional Survival for Law Enforcement." It's not too long, it's an easy read, and it's very enlightening. You should definitely talk to your wife if you haven't. She will share your stress from the job, and have her own related to you being on the job, so she gets a say. Good luck. If you decide to go into law enforcement, you will have great stories to tell, and terrible ones you probably won't want to. Either way, it is an honorable profession in my mind, and worth your consideration if you so choose. Feel free to drop me a line with any questions in the future.