There are good cops and there are bad cops, and all sorts of in-between. There are also systemic problems that run through police culture, and have been part of that very system for centuries. This post isn’t going to offer any solutions or recommendations on any of that because I simply don’t have the answers. I do, however, have a husband who is a retired cop, and from all that I have heard and know, he was a pretty good one.
Andy started off as a volunteer firefighter (coming from a long line of firefighters in his family, including his grandfather who was one of the founders of the Guilderland Fire Department, and the last living charter member at one point), then became a dispatcher and volunteer paramedic, before finally taking a job as a police officer, where he would have remained were it not for an unfortunate injury that cut it all short years before I met him. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if I had met him when he was an officer. I don’t know if I could have lived that life, and as a police officer he probably could not have handled mine; he once made it clear that if I ever broke the law he wouldn’t have been an alibi. (Like if I had to murder someone and it wasn’t necessarily self-defense – a question I may have asked on our second date.)
To do all of those things – firefighter, dispatcher, paramedic, police officer – requires someone with a strong heart and an unyielding belief in justice and helping people. It demands a fortitude built on more than self-gratification, and it requires a desire to help everyone in need. Not everyone can or should take up such a life, and sometimes the best would-be-officers are those who know enough not to pursue the career if they are not cut out for it. There’s no shame in that either, as I happily count myself as one of them. (Not that I’d ever even contemplated such a career.)
But for those that do feel such a calling, for those who still want to make a difference, and to perhaps work from the inside to improve and change a system that admittedly needs some work, there are a few exams being given in New York State, including two that are housed in my own agency, the Department of Environmental Conservation. The exam announcements for our Environmental Conservation Police Officer and Forest Ranger titles are currently up and open for applications (until August 3, 2022) and they are hoping to cull a diverse and broad candidate field, so if you or anyone you know may be interested, please visit this Civil Service webpage for further details and information.
As for my husband Andy, the photograph below was taken during his dispatcher days – a springboard for many an officer – and I think we need to take a moment to appreciate how cute he was, even in the requisite police mustache of the 80’s. (Also, respect the landline.)
