Police Escort This Morning
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| From another day, another coffee house, another officer... This image reminded me that we are human beings filling a role and part. |
I have ridden in the back of police vehicles four times in my life (thus far).
Fourth time happened this morning.
One of the previous three times was due to me acting unlawfully.
One of those times was because of a mistake, but not so much of unlawful activity.
This morning I was walking to a bus stop about a mile away from my home.
I desired to visit a favorite coffee shop a further two miles away.
However, I realized there was a marathon running on street this particular bus usually drives on.
As I came closer to that particular street, I saw a police vehicle parked there.
I considered asking a police officer sitting in his cruiser a few questions about the event.
He was there overlooking everything and making sure people were behaving or safe.
Whether people like the idea of having police present or on-call, the fact of this world's reality is that not every human being is honorable.
Not every person is aiming at doing what is right, but things nefarious.
Every heart on earth has yet to be perfected.
As you may very well know, not every heart chooses to do what is right.
Not every heart even knows what is right, let alone desiring to do what is right.
Some years past I too had been swept away by the negative propaganda regarding police.
Since police are human beings, and human beings are fallible (sinners like the rest of us), then the human police officer is capable of making mistakes.
Some mistakes are purposed, others are shown to have been typical human fallibility.
Also misunderstood by me was the place of police in the greater scheme of things.
Listening to too much noise and opinion from people having issue with the law (and likely having broken the law) had me suspicious of all things government, law, order, and by extension those occupying such positions.
I had become engulfed in things political (thus poisoning my mind) and had taken my eyes off of God.
I had become quite confused in my heart regarding the faith and how to understand God's kingdom within and among the kingdoms of men.
I was very close to being outright dishonorable and a criminal myself... justifying my manners with ever-increasing excuses and justifications on a slipper slopes of fallacy.
I too reflected animosity against law and order... and had become un unreasonable fool.
The past nine sentences need to be read besides the evidence of criminal activity and negligence in some police officers.
Again, people who failed to uphold the public trust (notice the difference of what I'm talking about) are to be dealt with according to the same law they swore to uphold.
But one criminal police officer does not mean all police are criminal, as one pedophile priest doesn't mean all priests are such, and so on.
We are talking about humans, and humans are and fallible.
But what happens when a person is treated with respect, kindness, and in an honorable fashion?
I learned some instances I may have not received a ticket for whatever infraction, but my bad and disdainful attitude towards the police officer beckoned no grace, but only the letter of the law.
This morning as I'm thinking about what to do now that a marathon is preventing my usual path to that coffee shop, I stopped a few feet away from the police officer's vehicle window to ask him a question.
I motioned that I wanted to say something (as should be done when approaching anyone sitting in a vehicle).
He rolled down the window and I asked about about the marathon.
He said this particular road will be blocked until 2pm today.
I was a bit dismayed, having walked a bit already this morning.
I thanked him for the information and walked away slowly, removing my Panama Hat and wiping sweat from my brow.
After a few moments thinking about what to do, I turn back into the direction I came from.
The police officer still had his window down, and I was surprised as to what I heard him say.
He offered me a ride.
I questioned if he was sure, adding that I would be grateful for the ride.
I then nervously joked about having to sit in the back (like a suspect / criminal).
He unlocked the back and I pulled open the backdoor's handle.
The back seat was very different than any other vehicle.
It was covered in smooth plastic from top to bottom.
Thick plexiglass, like what banks and fast-food restaurants in broken neighborhoods have, divided the back area and the front seats.
Communication, interestingly enough, is very clear despite the plexiglass.
I began to recount the other three times I found myself in the back of a police vehicle.
I went, as is typical of my nature, into T.M.I. mode (Too Much Information).
First time: age 14 when I lived in San Antonio, Texas, I found a car in the forest behind my street.
I would ride my dirt bike through those woods, along the animal / human trails.
One day I found a vehicle that looked abandoned, possibly stolen.
Thinking about doing the right thing, I called the police after returning home.
When they showed up to my home, they asked me to get in the back of the car and show them where I found the car.
It was fun.
Thoughts of childhood dreams to be a police officer (watching television shows like C.H.i.P.'s) came across my mind.
All was well until the officer asked if I knew who had stolen it.
What?
Initially I wasn't offended, but simply answered honestly that I had no idea... and repeated how I found it and thought it was right to call them about it... thinking that's somebody's car.
Only later did I realize he was asked that in order to decipher what was really going on.
So my thought of 'offense' was clarified years later when I had learned a few things.
Such a question is a tactic in truth-finding.
Police officers, as do all human beings, likely cross paths with liars and criminals all the time.
Police are trained to learn how to best handle evasive and sketchy people.
This particular police officer I encountered at age 14 didn't know who I was.
It was not illogical for him to suspect I had something to do with the car being stolen in the first place, only to later 'act' like I was a part of the crime.
When I did somewhat catch on to their suspicion, I mentioned I was R.O.T.C. classmates with so and so and that their dad was an San Antonio police officer.
Surprisingly, they all worked in the same precinct.
They knew exactly who I was talking about.
He was called 'The Shoe'. (last name was Zapata - zapato is Spanish for 'shoe')
Second time: age 27 (I think) and I had gone to pick up a woman I was dating at her mother's home.
This woman had to visit Alcoholics Anonymous once a week as part of her parole.
If she missed one, she would violate parole and likely go to jail (or face more trouble).
I explained to the police officer that her mother had placed a restraining order on her, yet there she was at her mother's home acting belligerent.
She was also drunk.
Seeing her like that, so irresponsible, triggered me to become irate and say some nasty things to her.
I too became belligerent.
In trying to do good (in my mind), I did not know what I was about to get myself into out of anger and nearsightedness.
At the time I wasn't my best, but had gone back to the vomit and wallowing in the mud.
She began to physically attack me in response to what I was verbally abusing her with.
We eventually ended up outside, in the rain, with her sister between us and also dragging her away, while I was trying to drag her away to either take her to A.A. or avoid the police taking her.
I had yelled out to some neighbors to please call the police in a frustrated effort to get her to leave with me.
She resisted... and I stayed there like an idiot trying to change her will.
Foolish.
When the police arrived, I being the male they first approached me and had me put my hands on the car for a pat-down search.
They began to accuse me of being violent and attacking them both.
So out came the handcuffs and I was sat in the back the car.
I was familiar with the process, and that I would be first detained while questions were asked, so I at least had an opportunity to state my peace and what transpired.
I could hear them both lying about me.
But I knew what had happened, and was confident that our records would paint a clearer picture about what likely happened.
There I found myself for the second time sitting in the back of a police vehicle, but the first and only time with handcuffs on my wrists... like a caged animal.
And it was fitting, now looking back and considering what a dog I had become once again.
It was a sobering moment although I was sober the entire time.
I think even the worst experiences, whether if are innocent bystanders or criminal perpetrators, are learning opportunities.
After the police ran her name in their database, and they ran mine only to find a parking ticket (I suspect), I was let go.
I had told them why I was there, and didn't refrain from spilling the beans on her situation (restraining order violation, drunk, on parole, etc.).
I had enough... and yes, I am a man who will testify and confess to the Truth whether it incriminates me or another.
I had protected her long enough only to find myself risking jail time over her nonsense and my chasing of her tail with disregard to what was right.
Seeing that it was me who was bleeding from the neck (her nails digging into me) and it was my shirt that was torn to pieces, and both of them having not a single scratch, it was she who was taken away.
At this point in the trip to the coffee shop, the police officer adds that he too has 'been there' regarding hanging around troubled people that jeopardized his freedom.
He shared a quick story of some friends he would hang out with, but who failed to have a good time without letting their vices overcome them to the point of violence.
He realized he would have to make a decision... and we had a moment of solidarity and single-mindedness.
When he shared about choosing better friends, I was reminded of how bad company corrupts good character... and I had been deceived while being around this particular woman.
Who knows if we would have destroyed ourselves in letting that situation escalate.
Thus, blaming the law or law enforcers, while ignoring personal responsibility or excusing distemper or waywardness, is dubious at best and self-deceptive at worst.
Third time: age 38 with my wife and driving her company car off-road into deep sand while searching for native geoglyphs in the California desert near the Mexican border.
After being smart about driving on a compacted dirt road, I foolishly drove a sedan onto loose sand and got it stuck.
We walked about a mile to the main road.
My wife was worried and I felt like crying, feeling like a loser for having been so careless.
I was worried she would be fired for letting me drive and possibly causing damage to the car.
While standing on the main desert road, a border patrol vehicle stops near us.
The officer asks what we are doing there walking along a barren desert road.
It looks very suspicious, I'm sure.
And depending on who is looking at us, but on that day we likely look like undocumented immigrants I'm sure... albeit somewhat well-dressed.
I laughed a bit to myself when he suspiciously looked around.
I deduced he was looking for signs of an ambush when he scanned the nearby hills before giving us his full attention.
I tell him what I stupidly did.
He is amused and invites us to get in, saying he may be able pull the car out of the sand without us having to wait or pay for a tow truck.
So there my wife and I are in the back... where law violators usually sit.
He was able to tow us out without much effort, and was nice about the entire thing.
By the end of this last storytelling, the police officer was near to arriving at where he'd promised to drive me.
I asked him his thoughts on audio and visual recording on his person.
He said he is happy about it and that he actually requested to be part of the pilot program.
He said it is the best thing because there is no way to misinterpret what is recorded.
I agreed that bias is difficult to argue when all things are witnessed beyond a two-party account.
We stopped and he lets me out (no door handles in the back seat to prevent escape).
I thanked him.
I told him I wanted to share the wedding pictures I keep of my wife and myself.
I desired to conclude the trip reflecting that God was good to me despite me not being good in the past.
I conveyed this to the police officer this morning.
I was surprised when he put his hands together in a praying motion and was all smiles.
He said goodbye when he wished me a great day... we shook hands and I went on my way.
I share these stories and this mornings experience to say this:
Before judging whether a man is following his conscience when fulfilling a role that God established role, look at the plank in your eye first.
First realize it is your conscience that God is asking you to judge and keep clear, not another man's.
Consider why God has established what He has... and how, as today's experience shows, what God has established is for the ultimate good... even giving His son a ride to work this morning.
Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established.
The authorities that exist have been established by God.
Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.
For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong.
Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority?
Then do what is right and you will be commended.
For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good.
But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason.
They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.
Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.
This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing.
Give to everyone what you owe them:
If you owe taxes, pay taxes;
if revenue, then revenue;
if respect, then respect;
if honor, then honor.
- Romans 13: 1-7
Some police organizations have written 'to protect and to serve' on their vehicles, or elsewhere as a motto.
Myself (and you by reading this message) were served today.
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