As the Christmas holiday approaches we would like to say thank you and best wishes to all those who work in law enforcement. Here is some of our favorite material that say so much about our career. Enjoy!
First, is this video Former Ohio State Trooper Bob Welsh Shares His Christmas Eve Story and we are sharing it with you with our very best wishes for a Happy, Healthy and Safe Christmas this year!
My Christmas Eve by Bob Welsh
Bob is a retired cop and expert storyteller. He served in the U.S. Navy and had a 30 year career with the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
I highly recommend his book: Embers From a Storytellers Mind which is also available as an audio CD. Click Here to visit Bob’s website at BobWelsh.com.
Second, here is our favorite poem from PolicePoems.com about the profession:
“I am the Officer”
I have been where you fear to be,
I have seen what you fear to see,
I have done what you fear to do –
All these things I have done for you.
I am the person you lean upon,
The one you cast your scorn upon,
The one you bring your troubles to –
All these people I’ve been for you.
The one you ask to stand apart,
The one you feel should have no heart,
The one you call “The Officer in Blue,”
But I’m just a person, just like you.
And through the years I’ve come to see,
That I am not always what you ask of me;
So, take this badge … take this gun …
Will you take it … will anyone?
And when you watch a person die
And hear a battered baby cry,
Then do you think that you can be
All these things you ask of me?
(Author unknown)
Finally, A Police Officer’s Prayer from PolicePoems.com:
“A Police Officer’s Prayer”
Lord, I ask for courage ~
Courage to face and conquer my own fears …
Courage to take me where others will not go …
I ask strength ~
Strength of body to protect others,
and strength of spirit to lead others …
I ask for dedication ~
Dedication to my job, to do it well,
Dedication to my community, to keep it safe …
Give me, Lord, concern for those who trust me,
and compassion for those who need me …
And please, Lord, through it all,
be at my side …
By: Author Unknown
May this season bring safety, good health, joy and happiness to all those in law enforcement!
Stay Safe and Stay Healthy because you are all so important!
Best Wishes from all of us at The Law Enforcement Survival Institute and CopsAlive.com
A Law Enforcement Christmas Story video, a Poem and a prayer from CopsAlive as thanks to all who serve in LE. Stay Safe and Stay Healthy!
CopsAlive is written to prompt discussions within our profession about the issues of law enforcement career survival. We invite you to share your opinions, ask questions and suggest topics for us in the Comment Box that is at the bottom of this article.
At The Law Enforcement Survival Institute (LESI) we train law enforcement officers to cope with stress and manage all the toxic effects and hidden dangers of a career in law enforcement.
Our “Armor Your Self™: How to Survive a Career in Law Enforcement” on-site training program is an eight hour, hands-on, “How to” seminar that helps police officers and other law enforcement professionals armor themselves physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually to survive their careers in police work. To learn more CLICK HERE
The concept of “True Blue Valor™” is where one law enforcement officer has to muster the courage to confront a peer who is slipping both professionally and personally and endangering themselves, their peers and the public. It takes a system of organizational support and professional leadership to support and foster the concept of courage and intervention. We will train your trainers to deliver this program to your agency.
To learn more CLICK HERE
Our “Armor Your Agency™: How to Create a Healthy and Supportive Law Enforcement Agency” Program includes critical strategies that you will need to build a system of support and encouragement for a healthy and productive agency. To learn more CLICK HERE
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I’m John Marx, Founder of The Law Enforcement Survival Institute and the Editor of CopsAlive.com. Connect with me on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
CopsAlive.com was founded to provide information and strategies to help police officers successfully survive their careers. We help law enforcement officers and their agencies prepare for the risks that threaten their existence. Thank you for reading!
I started my career in Law Enforcement in 1962. At the time, this little town in Michigan had a small force (2-3), who were officers without training. Nor did I. What I had was a few years of boxing and a chief who came to my fights and made me an offer to help his department (mainly, he had no one to handle bar fights & domestic violence issues), so I became the one to call, which I didn’t mind. I was in my early 20’s and bar fights calmed quickly. Domestic Violence was an issue I wasn’t prepared for. I became the student through experience, and my expertise became my career across America with lectures and building safe-houses & shelters for battered & abused women and kids. I was still going at age 70, when I went to work as a CO for the Arizona State Prison System. I needed money to build a shelter in New Mexico (Their first). A million stories later, sleepless nights, too much horror and devastation, that I finally wasn’t as effective as I physically equipped any longer and spent time in the hospitals for wounds, knee & hip replacements, PTSD, which led to dreams and nightmares. I have no regrets, great partners,
& respect the uniform with pride. Stay safe.
i listen to the video and it brought tears to my eyes as this Christmas Holiday Approaches all of us and i see a Homeless person or my roommate tells me he seen one all i can do is hang my Head and Pray and hope they find a warm and safe place t lay their heads and a Hot meal to put in their Stomachs.
MAY GOD BLESS EACH AND EVERYONE AND RAP HIS WARM ARMS AROUND THEM AND KEEP THEM ALL WARM AND SAFE
Love the poems and the stories ,they both brought me too tears. I have the upmost respect for all in law enforcement. Prayers for them and they working and personal families.