Besides major matters mitigated by cops on behalf of citizens, you likely wouldn’t know much at all about the little things they do on the daily.
In fact, if anyone had the notion to populate a database of how many flat tires are suffered by motorists on America’s labyrinth of highways and byways, it’d be wise to consult with law enforcement officers who are either out there changing tires or standing by (safeguarding the roadside scene) while motorists opt to do it themselves.
Most often (especially lately) we are exposed to the gargantuan incidents involving cops handling bizarre scenes which increasingly evolve in life-threatening consequences and, sadly, line-of-duty deaths. In between these extraordinarily perilous encounters confronted by cops are the little things handled via bona fide public service.
Sometimes along with the little things is a little humor, with a play on words. Here’s what I mean…
Per Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister in Florida, “As these two [stranded citizens] were growing ‘TIRE’d on Gunn Hwy and Edgemere Rd, Deputy Trujillo and Deputy Carpenter stopped to assist! They changed out their tire and helped get them back on their way. It’s the little things!”
(Photo courtesy of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.)
Compels me to reminisce a day in police academy training when the state-mandated curriculum called for four hours of instruction on changing flat tires; whether cadets knew how or not, demonstration was required. As seen in the image above, practice makes perfect (especially while wearing white).
It’s the little things.
Recently circulating the web is a photograph of a uniformed policeman pushing an old-fashioned motorless lawnmower while a senior citizen in a wheelchair looks on with gratitude. This excerpt is one among many whereby cops observe or learn of a resident hard-pressed to get the grass under control, so they park the cruiser and get it done.
(Photo courtesy of Lynn Marino Yates.)
The person who recorded the grass-cutting cop said the following: “The news can have you believe that the world is going to hell in a hand basket, but today when I saw that this Joplin, Missouri Police Officer pulled over to help a citizen, it warmed my heart. There are beautiful people everywhere, spreading goodness and kindness, and this Officer reminded me of that. Thank you, Officer Mike Moore for making our community a better place!”
This land-care endeavor reminds me of the lawns I cut while in full uniform —usually for elders or disabled folks— feeling like I was in a sauna (ballistic vest is akin to living in a barrel under the scorching Florida climes). But it was all worth it when property owners said “We sure do appreciate ya” and offered a frosty glass of lemonade.
It’s the little things.
Some cops get the little things done singlehandedly (literally).
A senior citizen was cutting his grass and fell, injuring himself. A Georgia state trooper on patrol noticed and stopped to render aid; that meant radioing for EMS to provide medical care. Oglethorpe County EMS arrived and snapped the following shot of state Trooper Frankel finishing the job:
(Photo courtesy of Oglethorpe County EMS.)
Per Oglethorpe County EMS personnel, this is how/why public safety works well in-tandem: “Living and working in the same community makes a difference. We are all one team and it’s small things like this that make our community great.
“This morning GSP officer Frankel was driving down the road and noticed an older male had slipped and fell while cutting grass. EMS came out to check the male out and while EMS was evaluating the non-injured patient, officer Frankel finished cutting the ditch for him.
“He didn’t even worry about getting his shiny shoes dirty! This is what community is about!”
It’s the little things.
And sometimes the little things come with huge life-altering messaging for law enforcement’s role, such as the one received by Officer John Rinn and offered by a passerby. Officer Rinn held up a little pink Bible and posed with the citizen who provided it when she noticed him sitting in his police cruiser while getting those lovely police reports done.
(Photo courtesy of John Rinn.)
Officer Rinn described the chance meeting this way: “So I am sitting in my cruiser typing a report, and this women just came up to me and asked me if she could talk to me for a second. I said absolutely and got out of my cruiser and spoke with her. The very first thing she said was she told me my life matters to her. She told me that she doesn’t see me as a white cop she sees me as a human and that we are all human and we are all the same.
“She then asked me if she could give me a hug, which I accepted. I told her that her life mattered to me as well and we continued to chat for about 20 minutes about all that is going on in the world. And during those twenty minutes it wasn’t a cop and citizen or a cop and a black citizen talking. It was just two humans having a conversation. Before she left, she gave me a small bible and told me that she will be praying for me.”
It’s the little things, sometimes with reciprocity.
And it’s the little things numbering in the many millions which are often overlooked by the police defunders’ narrowminded assertions and nitwit obsessions such as abolishing law enforcement.
Underscoring all this is the hard-core fact in police culture that no cop is immune from: Going from gory and graphic scenes to innocuous calls for service is the proverbial rollercoaster which no one can adequately prepare for with any sense of finesse. Yet cops try…
Consider the psychology with scenarios which easily manifest in flux and stress and adrenaline and torrents of biochemistry…silently minding police radio crackles, thinking, I just need a little breather before yet another high-stress pressure-cooker and a blast to the psyche.
Doesn’t work that way; that’s Policing 101.
Example: My very first call/assignment as a pressed and polished rookie serving on a midnight shift squad had me hoofing it to a parked police cruiser before roll call concluded.
A five-year-old deceased boy was my would-be victim. In short, that investigation was a stunner, had me boggled as both a cop and father of similar-age children at home at that time, and gave me more than enough pause about my profession…gauging making it to the traditional 20-year mark.
Dispositioned by the medical examiner as a death due to medical malpractice —boy just returned home from a children’s hospital, whose doctor prescribed meds which contraindicated what the child was already taking and reported as such— it evolved into a civil matter and not a criminal case.
Bearing that scene in mind (little dainty dangling arm from under a white sheet), my sleep was futile.
Hours later as I showed up for the next 12-hour shift with my FTO (field training officer), we get dispatched to the apartment of a senior citizen known to the PD as a solo- living gentlelady who suffered dementia. “Mrs. P.” called dispatch and requested “a tall officer” to respond to her home. Tall or not, guess who was taking that call… The new guy: me.
What was the problem at Mrs. P.’s place?
Well, Mrs. P. couldn’t reach the socket to change a burned-out lightbulb. As mentioned, the entire police force was familiar with Mrs. P.
I went from a dead toddler a mere 12 hours earlier to a minuscule matter for a thankful lady who resembled Mother Teresa and adored her cops; that was my early glimpse at the police-world gambit.
Mrs. P. was an avid caller who, for whatever reasons she needed us or for no reason at all, was like a grandmother to all police personnel.
There are many folks like Mrs. P. who respect the work cops do, especially for the little things which, quite frankly, is grand scale in their world. The one time she couldn’t find her broom and called police, I got the call, responded, and found it…right there in the broom closet. No big deal; she was elated. I swept while I had a handle on the broom, she teared-up and thanked me profusely. The broom search recurred many times thereafter, each time a police officer rediscovering the sweeper (broom closet) and making a diminutive old lady happy.
It’s the little things.
There is so much humanity transpiring out there in the world of LEOs among constituent residents and merchants, it requires a big book to log those myriad little things. What does that say about the hyperbolic media driving us down rabbit hole after rabbit hole…hoping we all believe every stinking lie they proffer and print, especially about cops?
I didn’t buy it then; I don’t buy it now.
And sometimes the little things happen either in the middle of nowhere or where much is going on. If not for the readiness and relative ubiquity of cops delivering a vast array of services, some little things may become laborious, not wait for routine but, instead, evolve instantaneously right there on the roadside.
Two Indiana policewomen can attest to this first-hand.
According to WLWT, Kokomo police Officers Samantha Raber and Gabrielle Uhrin were mitigating a call for service when a little boy hailed their attention to his mom who was about to deliver a baby in the nearby family auto. Prioritizing situations like cops do, both officers ran to the awaiting van, took matters into their own hands, delivered an infant, and maintained the scene until paramedics arrived for transport to the hospital.
It’s the little things, sometimes resulting in lifetime potential…thanks to trained cops working a tiny slice of the American landscape.
Lastly is a child whose big heart spread far and wide, with her love for cops amounting to becoming one at the tender age of six. Gone but not forgotten, Honorary Officer Abigal Rose Arias (“Bash #Г58” is how Abigail wrote her badge number, and it remains an icon) was sworn in by Freeport, Texas police Chief Ray Garivey in February 2019.
Abigail’s larger-than-life persona embodied in a little child grew to an enormous following, touching hearts in several countries, bringing attention to childhood cancer and caring cops granting wishes when circumstances are dire. Abigail succumbed to cancer and left a legacy, impacting Freeport Police Chief Garivey and many others during the little time she had on earth:
This is an example of a little being blossoming into a larger-than-life story touching many hearts along the way, poignantly depicting the essence of police work when it entails doing whatever it takes on behalf of others.
Abigail’s photos depicting her in full police uniform was sighted upon the wall at this year’s National Law Enforcement Memorial in Washington, DC.
(Photo courtesy of Lauren Holz.)
Poster Lauren Holz said the following: “I smiled big when I saw Abigail’s photo on the National Peace Officers Memorial Wall yesterday.”
No surprise and nothing new about kids loving cops since forever…and the same holds true today, tomorrow, and infinitely.
Law enforcement officers are masters of provision in both little and large delivery, often meeting reciprocal-minded citizens who appreciate cops and value them via kindred spirits — a uniform pocket-size pink Bible is an example.
I’d say the little things go over bigly…and I bet these lucky ducklings rescued by Suffolk County, NY police have a happy momma duck to back up the claim:
(Photo courtesy of the Suffolk County Police Department.)
Per the Suffolk County PD website: “They were lucky ducklings…
“Two Fifth Precinct officers noticed a mother duck in distress on Wisteria Circle in Bellport earlier this month. The duck was near a storm drain, and the officers discovered that several ducklings had fallen into the drain and couldn’t get back out. The officers removed the drain cover, grabbed a nearby pool skimmer and rescued the trapped ducklings. The babies returned to their mother and they all waddled safely away.”
As Sheriff Chad Chronister said: “It’s the little things…”