Views
2 years ago

JUNE 2021 Blues Vol 37 No. 6.5

  • Text
  • Safety
  • Blues
  • Newspaper
  • Officers
  • Blue
  • Magazine
  • Warstories
  • Davis
  • Davis
  • Patrol
  • Island
  • News
  • Cities
  • Agencies
  • Association
  • Deputies
  • Lifesaving
  • Enforcement
  • Galveston
  • Blues
JUNE 2021 Blues Vol 37 No. 6 • The History of the Galveston Island Beach Patrol • Beach Safety Tips • It's Island Time - Where to Stay, Eat & Play on the Island • The Texas School District Police Chiefs Conference • State & National Law Enforcement News • Warstory - What Happened to Susan Miller? • President Biden Receives Light Bulb Award • Open Road - The End of the HEMI? • Fishing with Rusty Barron • Dr. Tina speaks with David Edwards - Humanizing the Badge

ill gannon GUEST

ill gannon GUEST EDITORIAL Last Shift as a Cop Tonight, 5/10/2021, is Dustin’s last shift as a law enforcement officer. I can’t even believe I’m writing this. I know many of you who read this will be as shocked as I still am. Ever since we met 12 years ago, it was all he talked about. He was getting ready to enter the police academy in Michigan. It was his dream, the only thing he ever saw himself doing, the only thing he ever wanted to do. I had never seen a person so passionate about serving. He dreamed of climbing the ranks, an illustrious 30-year career. What happened??? Nine years of working weekends, nights, holidays, and everything in between. Sometimes serving a 12, 13, 14 or more-hour shift without a drink of water, a meal, or even a bathroom break. Missing dinners, birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas, school events, funerals, even his own brother’s wedding. Every shift we, his family, hugged and kissed him goodbye, praying for his safe return. Sending him out into unknown danger to protect you and your family. My officer, and all those who serve, would lay down their life for yours in a heartbeat. For you, a complete stranger. Whether you hate them or not. Without even taking notice of your race, gender, age, or any way you identify. Unless you have served, you cannot possibly understand the sacrifice. The physical and emotional trauma. Bearing witness to the darkest side of humanity. Seeing things you couldn’t even imagine in your worst nightmares. All while being hated, cursed, spat on, punched, assaulted, and have others try to end your life simply because you wear the badge. Seeing your brothers and sisters make the ultimate sacrifice. As law enforcement families, these are the realities we live every single day. I just thought life would always be like this. But when you see your officer’s passion, and the good work cops do, most of which goes unnoticed, you understand the sacrifice. You, yourself, become a part of the sacrifice. To be a police officer is to be under appreciated and misunderstood. To be criticized by the media and the public, your every move under surveillance. To be vilified for doing what is right and just. To be expected to be robotic, emotionless, and without error. Hold our public servants to the highest standard of conduct, yes. But don’t demonize an entire profession because of the abhorrent acts of a despicable few. Police officers are human, yes, just like you. And they are not immune to error. Those who willfully do harm are a disgrace to law enforcement and should never have had the honor and privilege of wearing the badge. Ask any officer and they will agree vehemently. To the coward hiding behind your keyboard - you swallow all of the divisive garbage the media feeds you without a second thought. You aren’t qualified to tell law enforcement that they are undertrained and overfunded. You have no idea how many hours upon hours of training are required to do the job. You’re not an expert on criminal justice or the law. You’re doing more harm than good. You robbed my officer of his passion. The fire in him died. He was an exemplary officer, the kind every department needs, and everyone wants on their team. The one every person in need prays will answer their call. But the hatred, the fear, and the sacrifice… it just isn’t worth it anymore. Stop casting police officers as the scapegoat for societal problems. You can be black, white, brown, yellow, purple or green and support law enforcement. You can be liberal, conservative, or apolitical and support law enforcement. You can be religious, atheist, or anything in between and support law enforcement. You can be antiracist and support law enforcement. You can support law enforcement and stand for what is right and just and good. You can do all of these things. Stop making it “us” versus “them.” Stop making us choose sides. Stop polarizing everything. By painting all officers with the same brush, you are perpetrating the very prejudice that you claim to be against. And you are fostering a dangerous society plagued by fear and distrust. If you think law enforcement needs a change, why don’t you submit an application and actually be the change? Any coward can sit behind his keyboard and criticize. Talk is cheap. Is it because you know you can’t hold a candle to the men and women of law enforcement? Is it because you know you don’t have what it takes? It takes a special person to make the sacrifice that officers make every single day. Departments everywhere are DEAR POLICE1 MEMBER Over the past year, officers and their families have faced some of the biggest challenges that have ever confronted law enforcement. Following the terrible and tragic death of George Floyd, LEOs experienced a backlash of anger, protests, political opposition and defunding that rocked policing to its core. All of this came amid the worst global pandemic in a century, a direct and dire threat to those serving on the front lines, and we still do not know how many of our officers and their family members have been killed by COVID-19. Being an officer has never been more difficult or demanding and for many who serve, this has hiring. Officers are walking away in record numbers. But this is what you wanted, isn’t it? Instead of departments raising their standards, they’re now having to lower them because they are overworked and understaffed. Does that make you feel safer? Isn’t that what you wanted? Abolish the police? I hope you’re happy. I hope you feel safe. If you support our faithful law enforcement officers everywhere, now is the time to speak up. The profession is in trouble, and your support is needed now more than ever. Thank you to everyone who has supported our officer over the years. Your support means more than you will ever know. To those who continue to serve every day resulted in a deprioritizing of personal wellness. However, it has never been more important to keep your heart, mind and body fit. Officer wellness is key to doing all we can to help improve community relations and officer retention and recruitment as we look toward the future. Society outsources the most difficult challenges to law enforcement, and it’s only fair that officers have high-quality support when facing their own challenges. Take good care of yourself and your fellow officers. Surround yourself with good people who support you. Talk with peer support. Connect with a high-quality, culturally competent therapist. Do your part to help smash the stigma that despite the adversity the profession faces, we see you. And we will continue to support you. We see your sacrifice, your courage, your selflessness, and strength. Hold the line. Honey, we are proud of you beyond words. The time you served and the countless sacrifices you made will never be in vain. You made our corner of the world a better place for the people you helped and the lives you touched. We’ll support you every step of the way you as you transition to the next chapter and crush your new goals. To honor your career, I’m sharing some photos from your years of service. We love you so much, Officer D. C. Harris. Thank you for being ours. makes it so difficult for so many in the profession to seek help. We thank you for your service, your sacrifices and all you have done to keep our communities safe during the past year. Stay safe, DR. DAVID BLACK, FOUNDER AND CEO OF CORDICO WHAT’S UP WITH ROSEN? With regards to the series of troubling events at the Harris County Pct. 1 Constable’s Office, I got to tell you, I wonder what in the world is going on over there. What was/is he (Constable Rosen) thinking? Especially now that he has had such a steak of bad employees doing bad things. *NEXT PAGE 10 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 11

The BLUES - Digital Issues 2020-2023

Beach Safety The Blues Blues Newspaper Police Officers Back The Blue Police Magazine Warstories Chief Peter Davis Peter Davis Galveston Island Beach Patrol Galveston Island Police News Cities Agencies Association Deputies Lifesaving Enforcement Galveston Blues

Blog

© 2023 by YUMPU