During the 1930s when I was little, I was frozen with fear whenever I had to pass anywhere near a certain house near my school. It was the home of a classmate whose father was (shudder! shudder!) a real-life policeman.

My only acquaintance with law and order at the time was via comic books, movies, newsreels, or my little brothers playing cops-and-robbers. In those days “Shoot ‘em up!” didn’t involve needles and dope. It was what could happen to me if I walked past that scary house. I was sure of it. Or it could result in a jail sentence or even the electric chair. In all the years of my childhood in St. Patrick’s parish, I never walked down that street, not even once.

Like diapers, times have changed. It took till 1966, but police in Chicago figured it out. They introduced Officer Friendly who’d visit classrooms to talk to the kids about how they should be Safe Street Walkers (I’m not making that up) and about Stranger Danger. Mostly though, Officer Friendly was there to offer a kinder, gentler message to the kids about their work to protect – not scare – them. Soon, the idea was picked up, and Officer Friendly was put into practice all around the country. The program isn’t in practice often anymore, but maybe some form of it should be.

Many kids today, especially black kids, must surely have fearful, negative impressions of the police, and in view of recent news stories, with good reason. I wish there was a way to fix that. I wish there was a way to ease their fear and renew their trust.

My great-grandson Asa – also known as A.J. – is having a birthday today. Technically, he’s now 10 years old, but in terms of his maturity and reasoning ability, sometimes it seems like he’s closer to 24. He’s also the son of a cop. His dad – my grandson-in-law Joe – is a decorated officer of the law.

Naturally, A.J. has every reason not to fear the police. Not just because Joe is his dad, but because he’s seen the kind of work his dad does. Up close and personal.

As an example, one day last year when he was nine years old, his family was driving to an event in a nearby town. A.J. was in the back seat, his mom Gretchen was riding up front, and Joe was at the wheel. They were waiting for the traffic light to change at a busy intersection – when suddenly, all hell broke loose! A suspect was running from police officers who were chasing him from a distance. Instead of watching the action, Joe burst into it! Jumping out of the car, he yelled for Gretchen to slide behind the wheel, and then he took off running. He tackled the man and then held him down till the other officers reached the scene and made the arrest.

Meanwhile, as his 9 year-old son was still watching, the victims and bystanders started cheering and applauding Joe. They thought he was just a citizen who had leaped into action – not a trained officer. He wasn’t even in the city he was hired to serve, but he had instinctively leapt into action and did the job he was trained to do.

Yesterday, A.J. observed his dad at work again, and – again up close! He was riding in the car with Joe, joined by his puppy Hershey. To describe what happened, the following is the message Gretchen texted to her mom Susy:

Message to Susy from Gretchen:
Asa and Joe witnessed a terrible car accident today where a car flipped in the air and landed in a ditch near them. Joe parked Asa and Hershey on the side of road with the emergency flashers going and helped to extract the people from the vehicle and give CPR while police, medics, and fire started arriving. It was a really scary scene for Asa to be caught in the middle surrounded by ambulances and fire trucks and he saw a lot today that he will probably remember forever.

The driver and passenger were badly injured but Joe and the paramedics were able to get a pulse back on the driver before she was able to be transported. We are feeling so grateful for life today and wanted to tell you all we love you, and it’s moments like these that remind us how fragile life can be. Asa talked a lot with me about what he saw while he was parked in our car at the scene and he made good decisions about when to look away.

We’ve talked a lot since he got home and he seems to be handling it pretty well so far. We said prayers for the victims of the accident and hope they will recover, and we decided to let Asa open presents for his bday today to hopefully change his focus.

Ever since I started trying to put this week’s blob together, I’ve struggled with how to conclude it. Since today is his birthday, I wanted A.J. to be able to read it. Regretfully, instead, I’m going to warn Gretchen and Joe to avoid letting him see it. Maybe when he’s older . . .

When I was a kid, – I, and probably most little kids – were really scared of the police. But, today, little kids like A.J. who have a lawman as a parent, have every reason to be scared FOR the police.

Everybody loves and respects firefighters. Admit it! Haven’t you at least once waved at those heroic men or women driving by? Everybody understands the personal courage and physical strength their jobs demand of them.

The police – who are expected to demonstrate the same on-the-job Spartan strength and bravery – don’t enjoy the same “image” as the firefighters. Their performance is something society demands and takes for granted.

The grim truth is that, overall, the police work is far more dangerous than that of the firefighters. According to the last comparative statistics I could find, in 2019, the number of police officers who died in the-line-of-duty was nearly twice that of the firefighters. That year, forty-eight firefighters and eighty-nine police lost their lives.

Wikipedia related more of the ugly statistics:

According to data compiled by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, over the period 2010 to 2019, there were 1,627 U.S. police officer line-of-duty deaths, including 528 deaths by gunfire, 459 deaths from job-related illness, 335 deaths from automobile crashes, 130 from being struck by a vehicle, 58 in motorcycle crashes, 25 by drowning, 20 by beatings, 19 in falls, 13 in aircraft accidents, 5 by strangulation, 4 by being struck by train, 3 by electrocution, 2 in horse-related accidents, and 1 in a terrorist attack.^[3] Deaths in motor vehicle crashes or motor vehicle strikes represented about 43% of all police line-of-duty deaths over the period 2006 through 2019 (about 809 deaths)^.

This is a photo of Joe, Gretchen and A.J. with Joe’s parents – Kim and Jim. They are very proud of him. We all are. I think he serves as a perfect example of what we want a police officer to be. He’s certainly not alone though. The ranks of every police department are filled with the same brand of quiet but unsung heroes. My great-grandson A.J. is a very perceptive kid. I hope he never realizes and has to fear the danger his dad may be facing when he leaves for work.

So, A.J., if you read this someday, I want to wish you a very belated happy birthday! I had intended this to be a story about you and your dad, but it took a twist that’s best to be dealt with when life has given you a little more “seasoning”.

One more thing, A.J. If you know any other kids who have a parent in law enforcement, please give them a high five from me.