YOU USED TO HAVE OUR BACKS

A veteran cop laments days gone bye

By Harry Dunne

I remember working night shift patrol. An in-progress call could warrant running code 3. As we would near the location, we would shut off our lights and siren and even turn off our headlights in an effort to sneak up on the criminals. It was against policy, but we still did it for the victims in order to catch the crooks. It was unauthorized pro-active policing. The brass new we did it and looked the other way in order to reduce crime.

Remember that little boy from down the street that was stealing all the bikes? He came from a broken home and his single Mother was working two jobs just to keep a roof over their heads. We dealt with him too. Sometimes all it took was getting him involved in the local Boys Club and making sure Blue Santa visited his home with a bicycle. Sometimes our families had less so that we could help yours.

Remember the night your Dad came home drunk and gave your Mother a black eye? She wouldn’t file charges because he would lose his job and he was really a good man when he wasn’t drunk. After my partner took him to the back yard and had a persuasive chat with him, he stopped hitting your Mom. Your Dad came back in all red faced and crying. He shook hands with us before we left.

Remember when we stopped you for speeding. You had spilled your coffee in your lap and when we saw the mess, we let you go? That’s when we had discretionary power. Now we take video of each other and everything is by the book.

Remember the bully, the peeping tom, the sneak thief and the drunk driver? We took care of all of them. We did it with pro-active policing and being involved in the area we patrolled.
I want to apologize for the current lack of pro-active policing that has contributed to increased crime and the unimaginable number of urban murders.

You used to have our backs.

We’re still out there patrolling. Just don’t count on us to do anything extra to help you in a time of need.

The sad thing is, we still want to be pro-active.

Guess what? We never thought Black Lives didn’t Matter.

Harry Dunne is the pen name of a veteran Texas law enforcement official.