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The Price of Vigilance

Sit back, relax, join me in a thought exercise. Normally I’d ask you to close your eyes, but if you did that you couldn’t read the instructions.

Imagine you are sent to a foreign city, somewhere you’ve never been. It can be for most any reason: business, pleasure, etc. You are given a map that shows you the route from the airport to the hotel where you’ll be staying. So equipped, you start walking on your way. Over halfway to your destination, you face a long stretch of dark streets. You can see, off in the distance, the lights of your destination. Between you and it, though, all is dark. You have no choice, there is no other way, you must proceed along those dark streets to reach your destination. You step into the dark.

Imagine how you would feel. Imagine the emotions racing through your mind. Imagine how your senses would expand, how you would begin to pay more attention. Imagine how alert your senses might become, attentive for any sound of danger, ready to react in response to…anything.

Got it? Have you got the sensation in the pit of your stomach? Are the sensations clear?

Good, because that is a sample of how police work feels, that state of being ready for anything, always facing the unknown, and never quite sure what might happen next.

Today, the city of Oakland, California, laid to rest four of their best. They were slain last Saturday when the unknown rose up from the dark, confronted them, and won. Thousands, both police and citizens, turned out to pay their respects.

And if you the sneer at that, then remember that walk in the dark, and imagine that was your life, day or night, day after day, night after night.

My prayers to the families of those we have lost. God bless you and keep you for the sacrifice you have been asked to make.

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