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Continued from Page 6 won’t be the last. But with God’s help we can pray that you’ll always be as unharmed as you were today.” I remember my dad putting his hand on the cops shoulder saying “Yeah, I don’t know about the unharmed part. They have some paddle time coming for this little stunt.” But I was 5 and I just DROVE A CAR. I can take a little pop here and there. The moral of the story, besides don’t leave your kids unattended in a car backed up in a steep driveway ‘dad’, is that my first interaction with the police could have been the worst thing to happen to a five-year old. Instead, it was life changing for me. From that day on, I wanted to be a cop. I wanted to be that guy that told a five-year old little boy that with Gods help, we’ll all be a little safer. In the course of my career I’ve read and even written a lot about what it has been like to actually be a cop. These past few years, I admit it hasn’t been easy to do either. But I ran across some quotes I think you’ll like and even relate to. The author is noted if they were known. 1. “Down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, and who is neither tarnished nor afraid.” Raymond Chandler 2. “Wisdom is knowing the right path to take. Integrity is taking it.” M.H. McKee 3. “Good people sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.” George Orwell 4. “I sleep alone, so you can sleep safe.” An unknown police spouse 5. “We face what you fear.” Anonymous 6. “Evil is powerless if the good are unafraid.” President Ronald Reagan 7. “The wicked flee when no man pursueth; but the righteous are bold as a lion.” Proverbs 28:1 8. “Bravery is not the absence of fear, but action (the mastery of it) in the face of fear.” Attributed to 18th Century writer John Berridge 9. “Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.” Ambrose Redmoon, AKA James Neil Hollingworth 10. “I don’t have to draw a line in the sand. I already have one. It’s thin. It’s blue. It’s mine and if you cross it, I will protect it.” Anonymous 11. “Be the type of person that when your feet touch the floor in the morning, the devil says, ‘Oh crap … they’re up!’” Attributed to Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson And of course, my favorite that rode with me on the hood of my corvette for many years: 12.“Blessed are the peacekeepers, for they shall be called the children of God.” Matthew 5:9 Continue to do what you do. Protect the people you were hired to protect. Run into fires only when the fire department hasn’t shown up and a mom is screaming her kids are inside. And most importantly of all, take the time to tell that 5-year old little boy or girl, that with God’s help, we will all be a little safer. Before I write the first word about the actions of HPD Chief Art Acevedo, PC Court Magistrate Colin Amann and the Harris County District Attorney, I want to apologize to the families of Sgt. Brewster and Sgt. Sullivan. Dealing with the loss of a loved one, especially police officers in the line of duty, is hard enough without having to deal with a bunch of political BS. On behalf of all of Chris and Kaila’s brothers and sisters in BLUE, I want you to know how truly sorry we are. We begin with Acevedo and his 5-minute rant on gun control outside the funeral 15% home where our beloved Off brother Bookings Christopher Brewster was taken. for While the focus should have been 100% on First Responders comforting Chris’ family, Acevedo seized the opportunity to grand stand in front of the media gathered to cover the funeral. Being the radical anti-gun fanatic he as, Acevedo began blaming everyone from Trump, to Ted Cruz to the NRA for Chris’ death. How about blaming the thug POS that shot him because he didn’t want to go back to jail? Damn Acevedo, did you really think Solis went to his local gun store and purchased a gun legally? Well no, because with his criminal past he wouldn’t have been sold one. So, while you are ranting and raving about boyfriend loopholes which had absolutely nothing to do with the death of this fine officer, who you should be directing your anger to is the court system. Time and time again this punk was arrested and let go. Courts, judges and the entire criminal justice program is broken. That’s where your anger should be. Even so, venting mere feet away from the funeral home where your fallen officer’s body lay, is just uncalled for. Joe Gamaldi, President of the HPOU, wrote to his members: “We are all grieving for Chris, and the focus should be on him and his family, not on the Chief’s agenda. If the Chief would like to make political statements, there are plenty of opportunities to run for office. But running the 5th largest department in the country should be his focus, instead of his misplaced activism. By the way, if the Chief wants to have a discussion on guns and crime, maybe he should share the facts that we have provided him that over 1600 people are on deferred for aggravated assault, 1100 people on deferred for robbery/aggravated robbery, and over 300 people on deferred for felon in possession of a firearm. It was very clear to anyone watching, the Chief owes the entire Houston Police Department an apology for hijacking this somber moment. Chief Acevedo needs to understand, this is about Sgt. Chris Brewster and his Continued on Page 16 12 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 13
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