Re: Trooper Again

December 23, 2003

Gene and all,

This is interesting. I do believe there is animosity between the two

groups, and maybe for different reasons. As I've had several years on

each side of the fence, I have seen it from both sides. And a personal

observation here, but I find the effect each profession has had on me

quite different. I really love EMS work; I like dealing with patients,

helping people. So day-to-day I prefer EMS. A BIG thing I noticed

right away when I switched was that I enjoyed being the GOOD guy! I

mean, I know that in LE we are the good guys, maybe the ultimate good

guys. And I really took to heart the " Protect and Serve " motto. We are

there to help, to protect individuals and society, and to help be the

glue that holds the whole thing together. And I think most officers

will admit feeling that same way. Yes, there are those who get off on

the power thing. But in the majority, we are there to help, to protect

people and their property. That said, even though I knew I was the good

guy, it felt sometimes that NO ONE else knew that! Make a traffic stop,

and they don't think you're the good guy. Your that @#$%##$ that is

picking on them and giving them a ticket. Or arresting them. So, going

to EMS was a chance to be perceived as a good guy, and I like that.

But, in my heart of hearts, no matter what I do for a living, or where I

go, what I AM is a Police Officer. I identify with that very strongly.

Say it get's in our blood, I don't know. But it became who I am, what I

identify myself with, and it's pretty ingrained, even after 20 years.

So, do these attitudes prevail with others? I don't know. But they

certainly color my perceptions of the differences between EMS and LE.

Some of it may also be the work. Police Officers tend to think of

Fire/EMS folks as laying around the station all day watching TV while we

have to be on the street all the time! Fire/EMS folks think of LE folks

as just driving around all the time, while we do the work of fighting

fires, handling patients, etc. So, some of it is just lack of

understanding about what each of us do, fairly common in differing

professions.

But from the LE side, even EMS folks tend to put us in the bad guy

position. We might expect Fire/EMS folks to identify with LE more with

our common public safety mission, but not always. And everyone who's

been on any of the LE discussions on here lately has seen that SOME

folks (not all) tend to take the attitude that the police are just

WRONG, and have several examples how they've been mistreated. So, in

reaction, LE folks tend to feel isolated, and tend to take an " us vs

them " attitude too much of the time.

I remember asking a candidate for a police job in an interview one time

why he wanted to be a police officer. His answer was " Well, when I was

in high school, I got stopped and harrassed all the time by cops, and by

golly now it's my turn! (he didn't get the job).

So, part if it may be just the mindset of the general public rebelling

or resisting authority, which is just part of human nature I think.

And, I admit sometimes I overreact, taking the LE side of things when I

feel folks are being unfair and feeling defensive. I continue to work

on that!

=Steve=

Phil Reynolds wrote:

December 23, 2003