Supporting Police and Fire

by Anonymous

When this little community comes under hard times and the general economy get stressed, one of the first government agencies to feel the heat is public safety, police and fire. Their job is tough even during the good times, but when cuts happen and positions are lost, well, it really defines their collective character. I hope you will indulge me now as I explain something:

Being a good cop or a fireman is wrapped up in a lot subtle virtues, and it’s safe to say

the average citizen would never understand, much less considered all of them. Then there are the not so subtle virtues like uncompromising courage in the face of great danger. How many of us would place our lives on the line to protect a complete stranger? Police and Fire do it every day; in fact it’s so common place that we frequently take it for granted. Now let me take this down to a personal level, and this is where I come from and its where my family is… the cop world.

In terms of the great society compared to the great law enforcement society, the cops win hands down. They are smarter, better and have more moral fortitude on every level. . . by far. It can be no other way because lives depend on it. Every time they strap on a handgun, it’s deadly serious. Can we say that about our jobs?

It’s incredibly tough to make it into law enforcement, the competition is fierce and many may try, but few will succeed. From the very first application the filtration process begins, the testing, the background checks, the polygraph, etc., and ultimately they select only the best of the best. Now comes the Police Academy and it is mentally and physically challenging, but the real challenge is still to come.

Once in the field a few more will be cut. That probationary time is long and hard and everything a probationer does is under the microscope. That’s more stress than most could handle. But, even after that period the stress remains pretty high. The nature of law enforcement places extreme demands on the individual and their family. It’s a real hard job…period.

As we all know times are tough. There’s a lot of discord and confusion about the direction of American politics. Our economy is in a long slump. We’ve seen many cuts and many cost spikes too. Employees are taking hits everywhere and then. . . then there is this rise in crime that follows cuts to police. We already had a society way too inclined to abuse our many freedoms, but when the cops are tasked to do more with less, it means more risk to them personally. Then things get really challenging and this all takes a toll on their moral, because in the end and despite all their great qualities they are still human beings just like us.

This is why I say, even if we can’t afford to be generous with our wallets, we should be generous with our thanks and show our appreciation for the men and women in public safety. We owe them at least that much. Let me make this real clear: We love you all and we couldn’t live without you! So hang in there and we all look forward to better days!