I’m lucky. I grew up with a parent who is my best friend, has been my coach, my mentor, my right hand man, and my favorite person. In the world we live in though, he is someone who is not respected. My dad is a police officer.
As a kid I used to brag about how cool my dad’s job is. I used to say how awesome it was that he keeps the bad guys off the streets. In today's world, though, it isn’t a good thing to be an officer. Let me be one of the first people to tell you what its like to be a child of someone who works in law enforcement.
It’s not being able to tell people that my parent is a cop in fear of retaliation.
It's listening to people that you hang out with consistently say, “F**k the police” or “All cops are the same; they are all just pigs” and not being able to defend him.
It's getting so angry when people say such hateful things about the police because you know your parent is better than that.
It's knowing that your parent works hard and is dedicated to their job, but knowing that they may never be recognized for the good things they do because the public only sees the bad.
It’s seeing my dad come home from work after a long hard day of harassment and knowing that it was because of the job he does.
It’s sometimes having a different opinion than the one of the general public because of my dad.
But it's also understanding that sometimes there are just bad cops out there who ruin their reputation for the whole police force.
It’s posting something about law enforcement on social media and getting multiple negative comments.
It’s having to avoid the news some days because there is so much hate for what he does.
It’s not wanting my parent to leave for work because you don’t know what’s going to happen.
It’s knowing that every time my parent walks out the door that might be the last time I see him.
It’s knowing that every goodbye with them might be my last.
It's knowing that he is hated my many and feared by most.
It’s knowing that some people want my parent to die because they think of it as a life for a life.
It’s seeing the pain in my parent’s eyes when he finds out that an officer was shot on duty.
It's seeing events, like the shooting in Dallas, and imagining your parent in that situation.
Most importantly it’s being grateful that they go into work every day and put on the uniform so that other people don’t have to.
I am the child of a police officer. It’s a hard job that they have, but I know that my dad is committed to protect and serve our country, and really that’s all I could ever ask for.
Thank you, Dad, for taking a stand to continuously protect and serve.
