Why He Chose This

If you know my heart, you know where I’m coming from. My hope is that if we don’t know each other, or if we have different views, you can be open to another perspective than what’s being portrayed across the country. To my fellow law enforcement families, my prayers are with you for strength and safety.

Being a police officer’s wife isn’t for the faint of heart. Even in normal circumstances. There’s a certain mindset and perspective you have to have in order to process not only what your husband or spouse does every day, but more specifically, WHY he does it. Why he chose to protect and to serve. Why he felt that this line of service was his calling. Because to put it simply, it’s dangerous and there’s not a day that goes by that I’m not acutely aware of how I say goodbye to him when he leaves because I know that anything could happen.

We all know that over the last few years, there have been major conflicts with the community and law enforcement. And every time, it breaks my heart to know that there are some who have broken the oath they swore and incite tragedies. It frustrates me when mass media and mob mentality take a stance based on partial information, and it hits close to home when officers around the country are put on high-alert for their own lives as ambushes and destructive behavior towards them suddenly becomes “acceptable”. It’s not acceptable. None of it. Evil is evil and is never welcome. I will always be anti-criminal, regardless of what side you’re on or what clothes you wear.

And when these tragedies occur, they’re still out there protecting the public. Every. single. time. the officers show up. Again and again. They show up to protests where people hate them and want to physically hurt them. Where bricks and fireworks are thrown. They show up to protect local business being destroyed in the false name of “justice” because the livelihoods of those business owners in their own communities matter to them. THEY SHOW UP.

Who else can say they show up day-in and day-out to a job where people despise them, spit on them, cuss them out, or want them injured or worse just because they’re trying to do the right thing? Who else wears a bullet-proof vest during their 10 or 12 hour shift? It’s a heavy cross to bear– and they’ve all accepted it. They chose it. Because if they didn’t, we’d all be in a world of hurt and chaos. If they didn’t care, if they decided that their lives were more important, they’d stay home. They’d let the damage and destruction and evil run rampant. Yet, they respond to calls and deal with the people that most of us hope we never run into. They see the worst of humanity and they still care enough to show up. They want our neighborhoods and cities to be safe– for their family, their neighbors, their community, and their children’s futures.

I obviously can’t say this is true across the board– we’ve seen evidence to the contrary and that breaks my heart. I know it angers good officers too. I will tell you that from the ones in my family, to our friends, to our friend’s family and friends across the country, they do it to serve. Police officers don’t get into this line of work for the praise or the money. The amount of money they don’t get to continually put themselves in harms way while arresting murderers, gang members, and drug addicts is honestly appalling. It’s definitely not for the money. If they wanted to make money, they’d be in real estate and development, pharmaceutical sales, or engineering.

While they’re on the streets patrolling, investigating cases, setting up special ops and out on overtime, they’re constantly aware that they’re not only protecting the public, but also themselves and their fellow officers. The majority of the public will never know what it’s like to save someone about to commit suicide by jumping off a bridge, or to rescue women and girls from human trafficking, or what it’s like to be put in a split-second life-and-death situation. They do.

They know what they do matters to people. They know their arrests make a difference in the lives of the victims and their families. They know they give closure, relief, and that they positively change lives that have possibly just been through the most traumatic experience they’ll ever go through in their life– whether shot, stabbed, raped, abused, trafficked, or dealing with the death of an innocent child or family member. I know because I’ve read the heartfelt thank you notes sent to my husband with tears streaming down my face. I’m so proud of him and I’m proud of his team for making the difference they do. It takes a huge heart, a hell-of-a mental capability, and a love of justice to continue showing up.

At the end of the day, they’re human just like you, from every race and all walks of life. Their responsibility is enormous, their goal is justice, and my hope is that you hear this with love.

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“Act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8

“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here I am, send me!” Isaiah 6:8