The Police Officer

Police Poems
A Policeman's Prayer
Fallen Officers
The Final Inspection
Blood upon the shield
The Police Officer
The Monument

Ems Poems
One White Rose
Jasmin
All Alone
The EMT Prayer
EMS Rules
EMS Rules Part2
Lessons learned
Why God/Paramedics

Fire Poems
God's Creation/Firefighters
Who can Our Kids Look To?
Thank you/Fireman's Daughter
Firefighter's Creed
St. Florian's Prayer
The Brave Volunteers
Fire & Ice
Men & Women of Character
Lost Lives

My Guestbook
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A policeman is a composite of what all men are... a mingling of saint and sinners... dust and deity. Cold statistics wave the fan over the stinkers...underscore instances of dishonesty and brutality because they are news. 

What that REALLY means is they are exceptional, unusual - not commonplace. Buried under the froth is the fact that less than one half of one percent of policemen misfit that uniform. And that's a better average than among clergymen.

What is a policeman made of. He of all men is at one the most needed and the most unwanted... a strangely nameless creature who is "sir" to his face... and "pig" to his back.

He must be such a diplomat that he can settle differences between individuals... so that each will think he won... But if the policeman is neat, he's a flirt. If he's not, he's a grouch.

In an instant he must make decisions which require months for a lawyer. But if he hurries, he's careless. If he's deliberate, he's lazy. He must be first to an accident... infallible with a diagnosis... he must be able to start breathing, stop bleeding, tie splints and above all be sure the victim goes home without a limp,

or expect to be sued.

The police officer must know every gun... draw on the run... and hit where it doesn't hurt. He must be able to whip two men his size and half his age....without damaging his uniform and without being brutal. If you hit him, he's a coward. If he hits you, he's a bully.

A policeman must know everything and not tell. He must know where all the sin is and not partake.

The policeman must, from a single human hair, be able to describe the crime, the weapon and the criminal.. and tell you where the criminal is hiding. But if he catches the criminal he's lucky... if he doesn't he's a dunce. If he gets promoted he has political pull. If he doesn't he's a dullard.

The policeman must chase bum leads to a dead end and stake out ten nights to tag one witness who saw it happen, but refused to remember.

He runs files and writes reports until his eyes ache to build a case against some felon who will get dealed out by a shameless shamus or an honorable who isn't.

A policeman must be a minister... social worker... a diplomat... a tough guy... and a gentleman. And of course he will have to be a genius, for he will have to feed a family on a policeman's salary.


Author Unknown

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Dave Lightner FF/EMT.
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Revised: 05 Sept 2001 0020 Hrs EST -5:00GMT .