From the Comments section:
I’m a long time reader, first time poster. I was just wondering if you consider being a cop a worthwhile job. Do you enjoy the work? Is it anything like “Third Watch”?
Three questions for the price of one. The answer to the first question is easy: being a conservator of the peace is always a worthwhile job.
Do I enjoy the work? That gets complicated.
Man has discovered literally an infinite number of ways to be inhumane to man. There are uncounted ways to be physically, emotionally, psychologically or mentally cruel to each other, and every day we invent more ways.
Your Average Joe is brushed by these occasionally. Some unfortunates have it happen to them. For Peace Officers, this is our stock-in-trade. The evil that man visits upon man is our raison d’être.
I don’t enjoy the pain I see. I don’t enjoy the shattered lives, the broken dreams or the betrayal of trust that I see time and time and time again.
The rest of the job? Yes, I actually do enjoy it.
Is it like “Third Watch”? I don’t know. Hollywood’s idea of cops generally makes me irritated, nauseous, disgusted and/or improperly amused, so I don’t watch cop shows anymore.
LawDog
Amen, brother.
NOTHING in real life is like Third Watch. The cops aren’t like real cops, the paramedics aren’t like real paramedics, and the firefighters aren’t like real firefighters.
As to the rest, you said it very well.
LawDog, I want to thank you for doing the job. Folks like you seek out the scum of the earth and manage not to beat the life out of them before arriving at the jail just so the rest of us can sleep peacefully at night. Yes, you get paid for it… but not nearly enough. Most people would say there’s not enough money in the world to make them get in a car with a rapist, child molester, or other variant of social herpes. Thanks for looking out for all the rest of us!
LawDog, it’s beyond my comprehension that LOE’s can go about their job day in and day out for years and MOST of them can be reasonable objective about the public at large. Seeing the aftermath of what the bottom feeders of our society leave behind in their wake could make one very cynical and hard hearted. It’s not often a LOE gets to see the humane and civilized side of mankind. And as in the military, when one of your brothers and sisters in arms crosses the line and breaks the very laws they were hired to enforce, the media paints all the others with their extremely large brush. I pray God’s protection over you and yours. Keep up the good work.