Just a thought....

So I was thinking one day, and maybe some of you can help answer this question for me...... What makes a Cop, a Cop?  This is something I think all of us will share similar interests, but also have a different point of view.  That is what I would like to hear from you.  So really, what makes a Cop, a Cop?  Let me share a little story with you about what made me want to do this and be a cop.   A long long time ago, I was sitting next to one of my really good buddies, (who I have not talked to in a really long time, and I need to call him. you know who you are Alan) on a school bus.  We were heading home from a day of learning.  Well, the very last thing we had that day was a Hunters Ed teacher who came in and talked to us and told all of us that wanted to go to his class on what we needed to do.  After he was done talking to us and as we were leaving for the day, he gave each of us a hunting magazine.  Nothing great, just a regular magazine.  As I was on the bus sitting next to my buddy, I was going page by page through said magazine, looking at all the cool pictures in it, and I came across a picture of a Cop.  He was standing next to his patrol car.  It was an ad for his hand gun.  Again, nothing special.  But to me, well, that was the most awesome thing I had seen.  I had seen hand guns in the movies, but nothing ever like this one.  I read what the ad said, the ad said that Law Enforcement Agencies where switching to this hand gun....I wanted that gun!!! And I knew the only way I was ever going to be able to have that gun was to become a Police Officer.  That is where the fire started to burn inside of me.

So back to my question. What makes a Cop, a Cop?  Is it the badge and gun? Is it the cool lights on top of his vehicle, or the cool uniforms?  No!!! That is my answer.  None of the above.  To me, a Cop is someone who cares.  Someone willing to go out day after day and put his life on the line for people he doesn't even know.  A Cop is someone who is willing to work the long hours for the crappy pay.  The sleepless nights because you just had to go and tell some parents that their baby boy or girl was in an accident and would not be coming home.  A cop is someone willing to put certain values to the side for the benefit of everyone else around him.  A cop is someone who is willing to have people hate him for doing what he does, and listen to them yell and curse him because they think it should be done a different way, all while not wearing his emotions on his sleeve and staying professional.  A Cop is someone who is willing to run into a gun fight, knowing that he may not walk out of it, and may never see his wife/husband and kids again.  The list goes on and on.

So to me, a Cop is not your everyday person.  Cops, (don't get me wrong here, good Cops.) are a cut above the rest.  I am not saying that Cops are better than anyone else, because they are not.  Cops have their own problems they have to deal with and their own crosses to bear.  What I am saying here, is Cops are a special type of person.  I would like to hear your thoughts on it.  What makes a Cop, a Cop to you?  I only hope that one day, somewhere along life’s little path it has planned out for me, that I too may become a Cop.  And to all of the Cops out there.  Please....stay safe, stay sharp, and God Bless all of you!!!!