My dad is a police officer. Here's what it's like to grow up in a family like mine:
When I was 5 years old, it was so exciting to me to tell people that my dad was a police officer out in the city catching bad guys. I'm 18 years old now and I still get excited, but I can't help but feel afraid not knowing if he'll ever return home from a shift.
"Why are you so afraid?" is a frequent question I get asked. My family and I can't go one day online without seeing, hearing, or being bashed for being related to an officer or being an officer. One of the worst things I've read so far was "A dead cop is the best cop."
It hurts me to know that people out there would like an officer like my dad to be better off dead. Now I'm not saying that all cops are good and follow all of the regulations and laws that they should and I'm not defending them either. It's the money driven, corruptive cops that make the good ones look like villains.
So on top of of worrying about him on patrol and facing anything that his shift throws at him, I have to worry about people who put targets on cops who simply report for duty. No one seems to understand the fear that comes with being a daughter of an officer. It's not just about being a daughter it's about the fear I face as a niece, a granddaughter, and a cousin at the same time.
Very rarely some of us have heard, "your dad was involved in an incident today. You need to remember how much he loves you if it doesn't go as planned." Not many of us sit up at night waiting to hear the garage door open and praying that he got up in paperwork.
When your dad gets home from work, does he tell you about his day? I'm sure it's great hearing all the wonderful things he did during the day and what he has planned for tomorrow at the office. But when he's an officer, he won't tell you about his day. He won't tell you about people who shot at him, car chases he got in, raids that went wrong, or the people he had to fight to protect himself. He isn't going to tell you these things because he's protecting you from knowing the horrors he sees every time he puts his uniform on and from knowing how much danger he actually is in.
Do you understand what 'm trying to get at?
For you I'm trying to humanize the person behind the badge. Most people don't understand what this whole life is like. But there are some things I want you to remember:
-When you threaten an officer, you're threatening a dad, a cousin, a grandfather, an uncle, me, their family....
-There is so much hate for them, yet they continue to put their lives on the line to protect YOU. They don't even know you and everyday they put on that uniform and set out to do whatever they can to protect you.
-It's not their fault you broke the law. You chose to break the law knowing the consequences, my dad was only doing his job to protect those in danger from your decision.
The next time you see an officer, before you just assume they're an assholes out to get you, remember, this is his job. He has a family to go home to. He has a little girl waiting to hear "I love you" one more time.
This ones for you dad, thank you for being brave enough to do what other wouldn't and for protecting those who persecute you.
Thank you to all of our service men and women who put their lives on the line daily to protect the lives of others.
