Friday, January 3, 2003

By DAVID EPPS
Pastor

I had an unpleasant dream the other night. In the dream, I happened to overhear two people who were discussing one of my newspaper columns. One of them said to the other, "You know that the guy who writes this stuff is anti-police, don't you?" Though I was in the midst of a deep sleep, this comment in the dream disturbed me enough to wake me up. In that misty haze between stupor and alertness that sometimes occurs in the middle of the night, I tried to determine why the man in my dream would say such a thing.

I have never been accused of being anti-law enforcement, although some who have read my columns have written me to argue that I am too pro-police. At a recent law enforcement Christmas dinner, at which I was to offer the obligatory prayer and blessing, the chief of police introduced me and said during his remarks, "In his heart, Father Epps is a cop." He paid me a great compliment.

Actually, I am a cop. In 1989, a local pastor introduced me to the world of law enforcement chaplaincy and, in 1992, I attended and graduated from the police academy in Fulton County. In January 1993, I was sworn in as a reserve deputy sheriff and was later sworn as a reserve police officer in a certain town. As a result, I received state certification as a peace officer in Georgia.

I love cops. I have two sons who have served as police officers and have another son who serves in the military. To me, cops are the peacetime domestic warriors who stand between the average citizen and anarchy. I have been on patrol with cops since 1989 and have come to a vivid personal awareness that the job they do is dangerous, thankless, and unappreciated. Both of my two older sons have been injured on the job and the eldest required four surgeries for injuries sustained during an arrest.

By the way, only a police officer can get by with calling another police officer a "cop." Don't use this term when you are pulled over for a traffic violation.

The average citizen sees police officers as a necessity to deal with "those other people," whomever they may be. But these same people do not want to encounter a police officer unless someone is breaking down their door or assaulting their daughter. Firemen are the post 9/11 heroes, as they should be. There's something dramatic and heroic about firefighters rushing into a building risking life and limb to rescue people. Over 300 firefighters died Sept. 11, 2001. They were true heroes. But 72 police officers also died rushing into those same buildings. In fact, every year, of the 470,000 men and women serving as cops of one kind or another, 61,000 police officers are assaulted and 19,000 are injured. Every single year, in America, a police officer is killed in the line of duty every 53 hours. For every officer killed, 400 more are assaulted and 145 are injured.

Did you know that, in 1998, felons sentenced to state prison received an average sentence of five years but were out on the streets again in less than two and a half years? Did you know that almost one third of convicted felons are released on probation without serving any prison time at all? And did you know that, in one recent ten-year period, 163 cop killers were out on parole or probation at the time they murdered a police officer? Ninety-nine of those cop killers were under the age of eighteen.

So, yes, I am pro-cop. Police officers face the unknown every day for little pay. In fact, most cops have to take second jobs to make ends meet. They deal, on a daily basis, with contentious, argumentative citizens who are not at all shy about telling the cop that he should be out arresting drug dealers and child rapists instead of handing out tickets for going 25 miles an hour over the speed limit.

Why do they do it? Why do they become police officers? One FBI agent told me that a study revealed that law enforcement officers and minister, priests, and rabbis had almost the same exact personality traits. One difference was that the cops tended to lean toward justice while the ministers leaned in the direction of mercy. The short answer is that men and women become police officers to make a positive difference, to affect their community and nation. They see themselves as serving the good and standing in the gap against the evil. They believe in such a thing as right and wrong and they believe in such concepts as valor, and courage, and honor. And that is why I love cops and respect them, for who they are and what they do. It is also why I cry when one dies in the line of duty. One cop said, "We face what other fear," and that is so very correct.

A spokesperson for the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund wrote, "There is no challenge too difficult, no danger too great for our nation's law enforcement officers. If you need help, they will come." How could anyone not be pro-cop? Unless, of course, you are a criminal.

[Father David Epps is rector of Christ the King Charismatic Episcopal Church, which meets at 10 a.m. Sundays at 4881 E. Hwy 34. He may be contacted at 770-252-2428, at FatherDavidEpps@aol.com or at www.ctkcec.org.]

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