In Defense of Law Enforcement

By Ross Chandler

Most of us have our only encounters with law enforcement through traffic violations. Recently I received a ticket from Highway Patrolman Jay Reich for going 75 miles an hours. It cost me $161, and I pouted about it for about a month. But it does slow me down and this may save me from an accident. Over the years I have developed an appreciation for law enforcement officers and the tough job they do.

The term law enforcement covers a lot of different specialties such as Sheriff Deputies, Police Dispatchers, Highway Patrol Officers, OSBI Agents, Drug Enforcement and Task Force Officers, SWAT Officers, US Marshals, Border Patrol Agents, FBI Agents, Detectives, Investigators, Military Police, plus many more.

I read the local news papers and see that local law enforcement officers have intervened in domestic violence incidents, arrested a DUI driver, arrested a drug dealer, found another body, helped get a mentally ill person to a hospital, worked bad accidents, mediated neighbor and family disputes, and/or help eliminate another drug lab. All of these people do a job that I could not do. The first time someone spit on me I would probably “Cap him in the kneecap”.

Many people do not realize that there are lot of disadvantages to being in law enforcement such as low pay; long and odd hours of work: work in all types of weather (worse weather usually mean more accidents and more weather exposure); exposure to medical dangers from suspects such as AIDS, hepatitis, pneumonia, etc.; occupational incidents involving children, death, and violence; criticism after the incident; legal issues caused by the use of lethal force; risk in pursuit of a fleeing suspects; incidents involving hard core criminal arrests; and not least of all carrying an uncomfortable 10+ pounds of police hardware, weapon, vest, and ammunition.

Because Idabel Police, Broken Bow Police, Valliant Police, and County Sheriff Deputies are all on random drug testing, I get to talk to the officers when they come in for testing. One of my questions is “Why are you in law enforcement?” The most common response is “I like to help people”. Other responses are “I’m not stuck in an office all day”, “ I make the community a little safer”, “I never can predict what is going to happen on my shift”, and “ I like the excitement of the job”.

In addition, law enforcement provides a reassuring presence in the community. Try to imagine what our lives would be like without law enforcement!

For more articles from Ross go to http://rchandler.blogspot.com/