His Judgment Day

His Judgment Day:
The officer stood and faced his God, Which must always come to pass. He hoped his shoes were shinning, Just as brightly as his brass.
"Step forward now, Officer, How shall I deal with you? Have you always turned the other cheek To my church have you been true?"
The officer squared his shoulder and said, "No, Lord, I guess I aint, Because those of us who carry badges can't alwa...

ys be a saint.
I've had to work most Sundays, And at times my talk was rough, And sometimes I've been violent Because the streets are tough.
But I never took a penny That wasn't mine to keep.. Though I worked a lot of overtime, when the bills got too steep.
And I never passed a cry for help Though at times I shook with fear. And sometimes, God forgive me, I've wept an unmanly tear.
I know I don't deserve a place among the people here. They never wanted me around except to calm their fear.
If you've a place for me here, Lord, it needn't be so grand. I never expected or had too much, But if you don't...I'll understand.
There was silence all around the throne, where the saints often trod. As the officer waited quietly for the judgment of his God.
"Step forward now, Officer. You've borne your burdens well. Come walk a beat on heaven's streets, You've done your time in hell"

Author unknown

Our Family Crest

Never Forget, R.I.P. Tom Decker

R.I.P. Officer Tom Decker

COLD SPRING, Minn. — Even for those who didn't know him, the fatal ambush of a local police officer provoked tears Friday for residents of the small central Minnesota community where he was killed while trying to help a man believed to be suicidal.
Officer Tom Decker, a six-year veteran and father of four, had gone to check on a man's welfare when he was fatally shot after getting out of his squad car near a bar in Cold Springs late Thursday. Investigators said Friday that several guns were found, and the man who was reported to be suicidal was taken into custody.
"He was a policeman trying to help someone. He was called there to help and he went there and was shot doing his job," said Donna Knaus, a manager at Cold Spring Bakery not far from the crime scene. "It's horrible."
Many other residents of Cold Spring, a city of about 4,000 residents about 75 miles northwest of Minneapolis, became teary-eyed when asked about Decker. The officer grew up on a farm south of town, and after graduating from college, worked at several small Minnesota police departments before coming home for what he called his dream job.
"It's a terrible, terrible thing in a community this size," said Florence Benson, 72, of Rockville, just a few miles down the road. "Just about everybody knows everybody – especially police officers."
The man taken into custody, 34-year-old Ryan Michael Larson of Cold Spring, was being held Friday on suspicion of second-degree murder. The county attorney's office was considering criminal charges.
Larson's relatives either couldn't be reached or declined comment Friday to The Associated Press. One said she wasn't sure whether Larson had an attorney.
Stearns County Sheriff John Sanner said his department got a call around 9 p.m. Thursday reportedly from Larson's family, saying he might be suicidal. Cold Spring police went to his home once and couldn't raise anyone, then returned almost two hours later.
It was during the second trip that Decker was shot. He was wearing a bulletproof vest.

"It's apparent to us the officer was ambushed at the scene," said Drew Evans, assistant superintendent of the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
Investigators wouldn't elaborate on why they believe the shooting was an ambush, saying only that the shooting was still being investigated.
Residents, meanwhile, were focused on the officer's family. One woman who said she didn't know the officer left a flower bouquet for his family at City Hall, where a heart-shaped balloon and candle were also left. A banner made at a local school was filled with dozens of colorful handprints cut out of construction paper and read: "We thank all of you for your service to our community."
When asked about the banner, Cold Spring Mayor Doug Schmitz was moved to tears. "It's tough," he whispered.
"A lot of people woke up this morning in shock, and we're still in shock," he said later. "We're a strong community. We just bind together here. It's going to be a tough few days and weeks to come, but we'll make it."
Blocks surrounding the crime scene were cordoned off with police tape on Friday, and officers – some using dogs, others searching rooftops – canvassed the area.
Several guns were found, according to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, but the agency was searching for additional weapons that may be related to Decker's death. Brian Moen, who lives about a block from the bar, said officers who came to his door told him they were looking for a sawed-off shotgun.
Cold Spring Police Chief Phil Jones said Decker was the "department jokester" on a force with only eight full-time officers. Decker served as the department's instructor on firearms and use of force. Jones said he never had problems with Decker, noting he'd received repeated letters of commendation and appreciation.
Decker leaves behind a wife and four children from a previous marriage – two daughters ages 8 and 7, and two sons ages 6 and 5.
His younger brother, Joe Decker, told The Associated Press that his brother loved to travel and be outdoors. He said his brother was shy and reserved as a youngster but became outgoing and gregarious as an adult.
"He was one of those people who'd be the life of the party," Joe Decker said.
Police attention had been drawn before to Larson, a machine tool student at St. Cloud Technical and Community College, though mostly for traffic-related offenses but once in an abuse case.
In 2009, he reached a plea agreement to settle a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge for engaging in behavior that could "arouse alarm, anger, or resentment in others." As part of the plea deal, he served a day in jail and agreed to undergo domestic abuse counseling. A no-contact order was issued. Court files indicated he violated his probation in 2010.
"He's a normal person," Jeff Scoles Jr., a friend of Larson's, told the AP late Friday. "He's not a monster."
Scoles said Larson lived in an apartment above his bar and has filled in as a bartender at another bar he owns. Scoles added that Larson was doing his homework at one of the bars Thursday and was in a "good mood" when he left that afternoon.
He added that Larson took a concealed-carry class in January and that Larson owned guns, but "was cautious with them."
Condolences for Decker came from fellow police officers in other Minnesota departments and from elected officials, including Gov. Mark Dayton.
"On behalf of the people of Minnesota, I extend my deepest sympathies to his family and to the Cold Springs Police Department for their tragic loss of an outstanding officer, father and friend," the governor said.

Here ya go Badge Bunnies!!!

 

Married to a Cop

by Michelle Perin
Created: January 11, 2011

I've never heard of a trash collector's wife listening as her stone-faced husband tells the story of pulling a 4 year old out of the mud after being run over by her father's tractor, her mother standing wailing beside him. A trash collector's wife does... 

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It is just a job.
Since I've had a police officer as a significant other, I've often heard this from people outside law enforcement. Many of my friends and family misunderstand some of the stress and complications that come with loving an officer. What surprises me most is sometimes I hear this same sentiment from those who do love an officer. We all have different experiences and there are no blanket statements when it comes to loving someone who has made the oath to protect and serve. All I know is my experience and what it means to me to love a policeman. How I feel it differs from loving a file clerk, a lawyer, or a trash collector.
If a trash collector went out on his truck every day poised to potentially face a life threatening situation, would his loved ones consider it just a job? His body rigid for 10 hours, hyper-alert to everyone and everything around him waiting, watching for a sign something deadly is happening. Along with this, wearing equipment that stresses his body and continues to remind him of his purpose and his potential for the power to take a life. The trash collector would have to go to every house not knowing what was really happening and having to have the mental alertness and acuity to sort through piles of human deception, horror and pain. He does his rounds, which include seeing the depth of human evil, possibly the body of a baby or a family wiped out, the pain of a mother's face who’s lost her son to death or drugs, a drunk driver wrapped around a tree, or a 13 y/o runaway with a baby face but hollow eyes prostituting herself. After he finishes carrying the weight of mediator, law enforcer, bearer of death, protector, mental health worker and devil, he returns to the station where the real fun begins.
I've never heard of a trash collector's wife listening as her stone-faced husband tells the story of pulling a 4 y/o out of the mud after being run over by her father's tractor. Her mother standing wailing beside him. A trash collector's wife does don't hold his head in her lap when the numbness cracks and the sobs begin. In my experience, here are a few things that make loving a police officer different.
Hours
One of the biggest complaints I have is the hours. They were erratic, long and make planning things a nightmare. Even though he had a set shift (I was lucky because my husband's department did not have mandatory rotations every 2 or 3 or 6 months), that didn't mean he would be home when he wasn't on duty. He might not be on patrol, but he would have training or most likely court. When he was home, he could be on stand-by which I felt was worse. We couldn't plan anything and we'd go into any activity with apprehension as to when he would abruptly be pulled away for his job. After we had kids, I felt like a single parent. He allowed me to make most of the day-to-day decisions because he felt he wouldn't be there to execute the plans so he didn't need to make the plans. When I needed to switch out due to frustration, often there was no one to switch out with. There wasn't the hope, which lingers when you don't have a partner, that someday it might be different. As long as he wore a badge, I would be the primary parent.

Communication Style
This was another struggle for me especially when I continued to study communication style, command presence and police technique. In the beginning, I didn't recognize his training in those things that bugged me about how he would handle conflict in our home. It seemed every argument was a challenge to him. He would flip to an authority in his voice and in his stance. It wasn't aggressive, just commanding. In time, I realized we both had to adjust our communication style because neither of us had been taught how to talk to our significant other or how to express our needs in a healthy manner. He reverted back to the only communication training he had which was designed to control situations and people in a law enforcement situation, not one with his wife.
Living in a Fishbowl
Another hard thing to take is living in a fishbowl. To each law enforcement officer and his or her family this can look very different. My husband and I lived in a large metropolitan area and many of our neighbors did not know what he did for a living. He worked in an area away from our home and didn't have to mediate conflicts with people he had grown up with. Many officers and their families struggle with separating the personal from the professional. What we faced most often were the constant questions or requests for advice from people when they learned he was an officer. I would stand quietly by his side waiting to go mix and mingle at a party as he would explain why the officer had a right to give this friend a ticket, how a civil case was different from a criminal case or why a recent police shooting across the country was or was not justified in his opinion. I doubt a trash collector's wife has to listen to queries about the best way to get out of putting their can at the curb at the right time of morning.
Pain
The biggest difference in being married to a law enforcement officer, in my opinion, is being connected to the pain that comes with the job. No human could be out in the world seeing, feeling, hearing and experiencing the amount of chaos and turmoil that exists in a police world and not be affected. This affect comes home with them. It gets reflected to those this officer loves in many different ways. It comes out as frustration, anger, impatience, distrust, and the hardest for me to handle, grief. Words cannot express the fear and sorrow that entered my heart when my strong, well trained, composed, stoic husband cried. The ache it caused in me is indescribable. I faced those tears after he witnessed the death of a child, after a violent sexual predator who he had spent hours meticulously building a case against went free on a court blunder and after losses of his brothers in blue; three to gunfire, one to a fight that ended up under a semi and one to a car wreck on his way home from shift. The ache still haunts me.
Being married to a police officer is not like being married to someone who does any other occupation. Yes, it is just a job, but within this job comes a lifestyle, a way of thinking and a social atmosphere. For these reasons, and those I've described, we have been given books such as, I Love a Cop and Cops Don't Cry. These manuals, along with support groups, online forums and informal get-togethers, help us survive in our world affected by our LEO's world. As long as we love a cop, we get to enjoy the whirlwind of emotion that comes with pride when he, or any other officer, does well or shame, when someone in blue messes up. We want to defend and justify when they or just their badge is attacked. We know most of them are good, honorable men and women. Because of this, we fight for them in public and in our hearts. This is what makes it different.

I want this bumper sticker for Rodneys truck...Its exactley what he would say!