HEY! Wait a minute... I know you... Didn't you arrest me once...

One of the members of my congregation is a former police officer who retired due to disability after an on-the-job auto accident. It is widely said (and knowing this former officer I believe it) that 99% of his arrestees said ‘thank you’ to him after he delivered them to county jail. Why? Because in doing his job, he was also polite, loving, and respectful and gave them an ear full of scripture between the arrest sight and the booking facility.
I kinda bet Brother Blackeyespeas had more than a few similar “thank you’s”
JudgeNot,
Brother, I do remember quite a few thank yous from some really interesting characters. I did try really hard to treat people nice, and that was a real chore for some of them. I didn't like what I was seeing near the end of my career. It was becoming more and more violent by the day, and people were becoming the drugs they were on (i.e. PCP, Meth). You were actually dealing with the drug, and the person was hidden away so far that you couldn't find them. The officers have no way to guess what they will try to do next.
There was a dramatic difference between 1976 and 2001. In 1976, an officer knew there would be fights almost every night and also knew there would be stitches, teeth knocked out, etc. This was in Lawton, my home, also known as little Detroit at the time. In 2001, officers were in gun battles with 15 year old kids doped out of their minds. In 1976, officers tried to treat kids like their children and do anything possible to try to help them. In 2001, officers had to kill some kids to save other innocents and stay alive themselves. One can't train an officer to understand and deal with this. So, in terms of police work, dope is definitely the devil working overtime. I might add that the officer doesn't know the age of the person running at them with guns blazing. If they did, what could they do differently?
I loved police work, but I don't know if I could do it again with the conditions of today. I will always pray for our police officers every day, and part of me will always be a cop.
Love In Christ,
Tom