Police Officers Are Human Too!

December 17th, 2018 John Fleming

To our law enforcement officers at home and across the nation.

I work at a retail store here in Citrus County, Florida. A few months ago I was taking care of a customer which took a few minutes longer than usual for whatever reason. There was a uniformed officer in line with flowers for their spouse that they decided to get off-duty on their way home. This officer felt it was necessary to let me and all the customers in line at the checkout know that it was on their own time and there was no misappropriation of funds going on. The look of nervousness and shame was all over the deputy's face. This bothered me very much. I told the deputy "you are fine, no one here thinks that". The look on their face almost brought tears to my eyes I felt so bad.

I felt bad because of all the backlash law enforcement gets for doing small things that we all do. Whether it be picking up their child from school, getting dinner on the way home or doing something other than what they would normally do on-duty while off-duty. Law enforcement officers are people too. They are bound to responsibilities that their civilian life demands just like us full-time civilians. These men and women go out and put their lives on the line for me and you every day. They don't ask for a thank you, they do it because it's a job saving lives and protecting their communities. At the end of the day, they should feel good about what they are doing. Our police should not have to look over their shoulders or feel afraid of doing something "human" because of how it will be interpreted. If a police officer wants to pick their child up from school in their take-home cruiser because it's on the way home or during a break then do it! If an officer needs to pick up dinner for his family because their spouse also works and there is no time to cook, then do it!

Before the Internet, a person's opinion usually stayed between them and a couple other people. Unless you wrote a letter or sounded off to a newspaper, no one knew how you felt. Today people can voice their opinion to the world instantly and sometimes their opinion is biased or inaccurate. It's not fair and it's dehumanizing this country. Remember the sayings "consider the source" or "take it with a grain of salt". These are the opinions of the few, not the many. I just want law enforcement in Citrus County and the rest of the nation to know that the majority of us are with you. I personally applaud the work you do and I am forever grateful for the risks you take to secure the lives of everyone around you. Don't feel bad for being human and don't stop being human because of a few negative posts or tweets. Keep showing the world your lighter side and don't ever forget, you have our backs and we've got yours.