Sometimes we wonder if what we do in the law enforcement profession really matters. The simple answer to that is….Yes. Yesterday I attended a faith based fund raising event. I was invited by a friend of mine who I spent a week in New Orleans with last summer. It was a nice event and typical in its content. Music, worship, inspirational messages and several personal faith stories and testimonies. It was these faith stories that caught my attention.
Two of the stories were from men who had hit bottom and ended up in jail. When they got out they turned their lives around. One said that he had been addicted to “chaos”. His time in jail stopped the chaos and now he has peace and joy. I’ve often felt that our primary responsibility in law enforcement is to “protect”, protect people from the chaos that the world throws at them and bring some order to their lives. Interesting that a “peace” officer helped this man find peace and turn his life around and took him out of a destructive chaos.
The second guy said “It was God’s plan to put me in jail”. I spend a lot of time wrestling with the concept of God’s plan and what God is up to. Often I hear people say “police officers are doing God’s work, and if you don’t believe in God, then we are just doing the right thing”.
So we do make a difference. You never know when one of those many small arrests you make might be the intervention someone needs to turn their life around and become an asset to society.
Keep up the good work! I am proud to be associated with you!
