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Be sure to thank a cop In June, I attended and delivered the invocation for the graduation exercises for police cadets at the Fulton County Public Safety Training Center in College Park, Georgia. I have prayed at nearly every graduation, and there are several each year, since 1993. Nineteen graduates from the police departments of East Point, Fairburn, MARTA., Union City, Georgia State, Georgia Tech, the Georgia World Congress Center, the Fulton County Marshal’s Office, and the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office were about to graduate, be sworn in as peace officers in the state of Georgia, and start a new career as law enforcement officers. The graduation speaker was the well-educated (bachelor’s degree from Auburn, master’s degree from Troy State) and lovely (yes, I realize I am ordained and shouldn’t notice such things) Deputy Chief Chandi Ashmore of the Fulton County Schools Department of Public Safety. Just before she began her address to the graduates, Chief Ashmore asked them all to stand. She said, “Now turn to that officer on your left and say, ‘Thank you.’ Now turn to the officer on your right and say, ‘Thank you.’” Then she said, “You may be seated.” After the class took their seats she continued, “That may be the last time that anyone every thanks you for doing your job as a police officer.” She went on to tell them that most of the public would never express their thanks to them for putting their lives on the line every day. Most would never express appreciation even when the officers did something extraordinary or heroic. “Even your supervisors,” she informed the soon-to-be police officers will rarely say “thanks” for doing a good job. “It shouldn’t be that way, “she said, “but that’s the way it is. As I sat on the dais, I realized that she was absolutely right. Having served as a law enforcement chaplain for 17 years, I know that one of the major issues in low officer morale, the relatively high turnover rate, and the depression that often occurs in cops is due to feeling under-appreciated and undervalued. It’s not unusual for the public to express appreciation to firefighters and emergency service personnel. After all, the good they do is apparent and firefighters and paramedics don’t lock people up. But having ridden in patrol vehicles for several police agencies over the years, I can attest that praise and appreciation is as rare as a pork chop at a bar mitzvah. Even when a cop gives chase and apprehends a criminal, the media will scrutinize his or her every move. If he fires his weapon to save his life or the life of another, the public will put the officer on trial and, even if the incident is declared to be a “good shoot,” there will still be a clamor from some people for his head. Several years ago, during a terrible flood, I was out with sheriff’s deputies as they blocked the road over a bridge they feared might wash away. I don’t recall anyone saying to the officers who stood in the driving rain, wind and lightning, “Oh, thank you for trying to save my life!” No, most just grumbled, cast a surly glance at the officer who was cold and soaked to the bone, and turned around and drove away. Some even became angry at the cops who refused to let people on the bridge which was already covered with water. Recently in a local community a city official was arrested for “driving while intoxicated.” The results? Mostly, the citizens complained that the cops who made the arrest were at fault and should have been “catching criminals” instead of harassing honest citizens. Which, of course, is what many of the law-breakers on the highways say when they get a ticket for speeding or some other infraction. What about the times a teen is taken into custody or stopped for questioning? Well, then the police are accused of “picking on the kids.” The cops, you see, just can’t win. If they do their job and enforce the law, direct and divert traffic, arrest people and save lives, their reward is complaints. If they lose heart and quit doing their job then, eventually, they’ll lose their job. In many cases, even their friends turn on them, or, worse, ask them to “fix tickets” (which they cannot do) and is why most cops have only cops for friends. And, as Chief Ashmore pointed out, in many agencies the officers do not even receive appreciation from their superiors, who ought to know better since they were once on the streets themselves. So, the cops valiantly slog through, fulfilling their oath of office, knowing, even if anyone never says so, that they are the only men and women standing between decent people and the chaos of domestic anarchy. In the local community where I serve as chaplain, if a citizen has someone breaking into her home at 2 a. m. and calls 911, a warrior with a badge, who will put his life at risk for someone that he does not know, will be there in three minutes or less. He knows he may die that night on that call, but he comes anyway, ready to meet whatever evil or fate awaits him. He’s a police officer. It’s what he does every single day. Somebody, once in a while, ought to say, “Thank you!” login to post comments | Father David Epps's blog
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