| For All Peace Officers |
| FOR ALL PEACE OFFICERS
In honor of Ted Belardes and his fellow officers Sense is out the window and cop bashing is in season. Americans hate authority, whatever is our reason. A little cooperation would certainly defuse An explosive situation where you have a lot lose. Behind that 'Thin Blue Line' stand chaos and the mob So get yourself together and let them do their job. I remember a public interview with the husband of Sharon Tate Who said the greatest sympathy came from the cops you love to hate. They help pick up the pieces of victims' shattered lives. Take them to the hospital, wait to see if they survive. Offer a shoulder to cry on, hold them while they grieve. We'd really be in trouble if they should ever leave. If a baseball pro hits 300, he is lauded to the skies. Let a cop miss one call, everyone screams, "He lies!" One split-second decision made in the dead of night When your life hangs in the balance and you pray get it right, May go to court and linger, debated there for years By lawyers and academics and finally, your greatest fear. Supreme Court! 5 to 4 against you, and they begin to chant this song, "Ah - he's only a lowly street cop, I knew he got it wrong!" But if you are in danger, and fearful for your life, Facing an armed robber or a felon with a knife, You can have your academics or your bureaucratic fop, Even expensive lawyers. Me - I'll call a cop! Elizabeth Belardes 1985 |
| Taree's Poetry winter, 2005 |
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| This was written by my mother, who was married to a California Highway patrol officer for 35 years. Only those who have a member of the family in law enforcement can understand what it's like to wait for them to come home each day fearing the worst if they are just a few minutes late. They understand what kind of peril these brave men and women are continuously subject to, and most of us would not trade the safety of our jobs for the kind of spur of the moment decisions they must make minute by minute, in the attempt to keep themselves and those they have sworn to protect and serve as safe as is humanly possible. My mother wrote this in honor of all peace officers after reading yet another newspaper article about officers taken to task for an incident in which they had precious few seconds to respond to what had the potential to be a life-threatening attack by another out-of-control human being. |
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