National Police Week

This week is National Police Week.  What started in 1962 with a proclamation from President Kennedy grew in 1982 to include a Memorial Service.  The commemoration now draws 25,000-40,000 LEO's, family and friends to Washington, DC to honor law enforcement as well as to remember those who lost their lives the previous year while performing their duties.

The National Law Enforcement Officer's Memorial Wall... Very moving!

The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in downtown DC holds the names of the 19,000+ officers that have died in the line of duty.  My family and I had the honor of visiting this memorial several years ago during a trip to the area.  It was particularly important to make that stop because during the previous year, 3 deputies from my husband's department had died in the line of duty- 2 in car accidents and 1 who was murdered.  It was a moving experience, to see all of those names, but particularly to see the names of people that you knew, had met and had worked with.... I don't ever want to have to return to view more names of LEO's that we knew, but I realize that is a possibility in this line of work.

When I look back at the statistics for the past 5 years for LEO line of duty deaths, it's like a roller coaster:
2007- 201
2008- 151
2009- 138
2010- 163
2011- 166
2012- 36 (year to date...unfortunately there will be more to add by the end of the year....)

What the statistics don't show is that many of the line of duty deaths in recent years have been ambushes and premeditated murder of LEO's simply because they are LEO's.....  That is disheartening to me.  It's not in the front of my mind every day because I don't believe you can function well that way... But it is often in the back of my mind, reminding me just how fragile life can be.

So many of my friends are so very supportive of my husband's job.  They thank him (and others they know and see) for doing their job.  It might be hard for some to believe or understand, though, just how hated law enforcement is by the general community and also by the media, who is quick to report the bad (or what they perceive is the bad) but rarely reports the good.

My husband, and very few if any LEO's for that matter, does not do this job for the recognition.  He doesn't expect to be thanked by the community at the end of his shift.  He realizes that the same person who calls him for help might be the one he actually takes to jail that night.  He's been lied about (countless times....thank God for the dash cam that busts those liars!), threatened, assaulted, stalked, someone tried to run him over with their car, he's held a dying man in his arms, and seen death in ways no one would ever choose to see.  He does his job because he loves it.  And he does it never once expecting to be appreciated by the community.

I don't know of any other profession where people make such generalizations due to a small percentage who have done wrong.  We never (nor should we) hear "All teachers are bad" because we hear of the few who have broken trust in various ways, some even committing crimes.  We never hear "All doctors are bad" because of one who doesn't perform his job ethically.  But we routinely hear that ALL cops are bad, because there are those few who are doing wrong.... That is what makes this job so hard for both the LEO and their families....Hearing those generalities when you know your loved one is in the vast majority of those who do this job well! 

So, this week as we celebrate Law Enforcement, make it your goal to go out of your way to thank an LEO in your community.  You don't have to bake them cookies (in fact, many won't accept that as you can imagine people in that line of work wouldn't want to accept homemade goods from someone they don't know!), but a simple "thank you" will be enough to make their day.  They may not have heard those words outside their home in weeks or longer.