Many people think that being the child of a cop is the best thing, because you can “do no wrong.” However, that is not true. In many cases it can feel like you are always being interrogated, or never telling the truth. At times, my father tells me that what he is saying to me he has said to an inmate before. Your senses become heightened as you begin to examine people; you watch their movements, listen to conversations, and sometimes it causes fear that isn’t real.

As a child, I always wanted to know about my dad’s job and what he did. I never realized that he dealt with irrational people, and the horror stories you read about he deals with on a daily basis. I have to recognize that my father deals with the unwanted people in our society everyday and still manages to be normal. Now that I am older, he tells me stories about the people he has dealt with over the years; some are sad, some are scary, and sometimes they may even be funny. The sad part is, my father has gotten up every day for 25 years, to get locked in a jail with his county’s undesirables every single day. He willingly walks into jail everyday, to make sure that these men and women take responsibility for their crimes against society, and keep everyone there safe.

A few months ago, I told my dad that I might want to be a cop, or a sheriff's officer in the future and he advised me against it. He said that it takes a toll on you, and that it takes away some of your humanity. You see and hear the worst of the worst, it hardens your heart, and numbs you to the good things in life and can make the bad things acceptable.

Along with being one of the main people responsible for security in the jail, my father is the county’s head negotiator. That means that he knows how to talk to people and calm them down and may also have to defuse a bad situation. He has had several situations where this was important; including talking a suicidal woman into going to a hospital for help, and also being on call for the Super Bowl just in case there was a crisis. Everyday there is something new, and a it can be a blessing. As a cop, any day could be your last and you always need to be prepared to help people. It is a lifestyle that you have to accept.

Honestly it hurts me to hear that people hate cops, because they don’t realize that these cops are fathers, brothers, sisters, mothers, etc. These people have families. When people fight the police and challenge authority, they are going against the people who are there to protect you and at some point may ultimately save your life. They are there to protect the lives of the people, yet people still rally against them.

Many people in my life think that being the daughter of a cop is the perfect thing, but it really is not. I may have a gold card, that could help me out of a speeding ticket, but it doesn't beat the fact that I worry about my father and everyone around him everyday. He has done everything to protect me, and will continue to do so, but on any given day working in a jail could be his last. He doesn't think about that, but I do. So I am grateful when the phone rings and it’s my dad asking me about my day. It's then I know he has made it through another day. With everything going on in today’s world, I worry about my father every single day; you never know what could happen.