I had lots of material to pick from this past week. Seven days in mile-high Denver Colorado with family and about thirty kids and their parents, will do that. As we began to board the plane Sunday afternoon, it all changed.
As we faced the challenging task of getting all the kids and their random soccer balls on to the plane, I received a phone call from a close friend and retired SDPD Officer. I knew it was bad news the minute he started talking. The tone and voice inflection was controlled, clear and serious. The way cops in crisis talk, "I'm sure you have heard what is going on here in San Diego".
As we stood in line in the hot jetway he explained how Mid-City Division Officer Jeremy Henwood was ambushed by a cowardly and suicidal male with a shotgun. Jeremy had merely stopped his marked patrol car to assist what he thought was a motorist in need of help. He was the second San Diego Police Officer to be killed in the line of duty in the last ten months.
My thoughts immediately jumped to his family, and then the dreaded silence his fellow officers would be experiencing when they attended line-up. Line-ups in large police departments occur twenty-four hours a day and are usually positive with lots of laughter and good natured kidding. There will be no laughter today or for quite awhile in the eight divisions of SDPD.
As I sat back in my cramped airline seat, I decided I was not going to write a story this week. I was going to, "take a break". Most of last night and again this morning, I continued thinking about all the heroic police officers and the citizens who tried to save Officer Henwood.
Thirty minutes prior to launching our weekly emagazine this morning, Hannah was asking again for this week's story. I realized how gutless I was being. After all, when do law enforcement officers or military personnel ever get a chance to stop, or, "take a break"?
Never. It is extremely difficult for them to even catch their breath or really mourn the death of a fellow officer. Despite how much they are personally suffering, the world around them keeps turning and the drug abusers, gang members, predators and the criminal elements never, ever let up.
Officers drive by crime scenes 24/7. They get used to entering, exiting, and managing crime scenes. Being in them and being around them is all part of the job. It is so different when it is one of your own or their vehicle is in that restricted area of crime scene tape, numbered markers and the flashes of a lab technicians camera.
Stopping is never an option for cops or men and women in combat. The mission must be continued. So when you see a law enforcement officer or a member of our military please take moment to stop yourself and say, "Thank You". It may be the only break they receive all day.
