A tribute to the cops on the beat

In November a very good friend of ours retired after working 34 years as a police officer. We teased him about his dangerous job “protecting Overland Park from Prairie Village.” We were invited to his official retirement party at police headquarters when an honor guard presented the colors, the chief of police commended and kidded him and a slide show recapped his career with the department.

A few weeks later we took him out to dinner. And while saying goodnight, my husband said a little jokingly as the two men shook hands, “Thank you for your service.”

They laughed because that’s what you usually say to combat soldiers who have fought on a battlefield, not to a suburban police sergeant who had never fired his service weapon in the line of duty and somehow had made it through 34 years in law enforcement, safe and sound.

Sadly, more and more police officers aren’t as lucky.

A recent story on the front page of The Kansas City Star documented a frightening 39 percent rise in the number of police fatalities suffered in the line of duty during the last two years. That’s according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund in Washington, D.C.

Those statistics translate to real people right here in our own backyard.

An officer in Atchison was shot to death in December while responding to a nuisance call.

Last August a Missouri Highway Patrolman apparently drowned when swept away by flood waters while on patrol and in June a Riverside officer who had volunteered to help in the aftermath of the Joplin tornado was struck by lightning and later died.

Of course, even our lucky friend experienced his share of trouble during his 34 years as a cop.

He saw more than 100 dead bodies due to homicide, suicide or natural causes. He directed traffic around mangled car crashes and arrested shoplifters who suddenly wanted to pay for the merchandise they’d stolen.

He separated warring spouses on domestic disturbance calls and was in the high school principal’s office when parents were told of their son’s apparent suicide.

Not a career choice for the weak of heart. Or stomach.

The more I thought about our friend’s career in law enforcement, the more remarkable I think it is.

Who in almost any profession these days stays with the same employer for 34 years? What kind of dedication and commitment does that take, especially in doing a job that can change in an instant from being deadly dull to simply deadly?

Today’s headlines seem to reflect more danger than yesterday’s, and we look to law enforcement for more help at a time when government especially is being asked to do more with less.

Cops get frustrated and their supervisors feel pressure but both value what each brings to the table. So they keep working at making it work.

Somehow the relationship lasts for more than three decades and we are better off and probably safer too because of it.

So to my policeman friend who has recently retired, I say, “Enjoy! You deserve it.” And to his still-working colleagues facing each uncertain day: “Thank you for serving.”

Judie Becker of Leawood is a former newspaper reporter and a volunteer in the Blue Valley School District.