“May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one.”


"This report is maybe 12-years-old. Parliament buried it, and it stayed buried till River dug it up. This is what they feared she knew. And they were right to fear because there's a whole universe of folk who are gonna know it, too. They're gonna see it. Somebody has to speak for these people. You all got on this boat for different reasons, but you all come to the same place. So now I'm asking more of you than I have before. Maybe all. Sure as I know anything I know this, they will try again. Maybe on another world, maybe on this very ground swept clean. A year from now, 10, they'll swing back to the belief that they can make people . . . better. And I do not hold to that. So no more running. I aim to misbehave." ~ Captain Malcom Reynolds

Friday, January 18, 2008

Black and White

Despite everything we would all wish, being a cop isn't always an easy choice on what to do. A couple of things from last night brought that to mind for me. Everything isn't always a black and white situation, and sometimes doing the right thing isn't doing the right thing...

The first incident involved a coworker who's a good friend as well. I was backing him on a little situation where he had a guy who most likely should have gone to jail - not needed to, but should if the difference makes sense. Unfortunately, the individual in question was a friend of his, which put him in a tough position and it wasn't anything I could jump in on. I helped him out where I could, and he resolved things for the night which is sometimes all we can hope for - but he was also frustrated at being in that position, which I greatly understand.

Later on that night I ended up with one of my own - a guy who was acting up, and basically talked himself into a pair of handcuffs by being dumb. Not much of a charge though, it's almost the famous "contempt of cop" that you will hear about. But now I'm really wishing I could have found another way. Yes, the guy was a mope, and he needs more time on his record what with everything he's into - and there was more to it, but unfortunately nothing we could legally find. But I still just feel like I let things get to an arrest that could have somehow been handled differently.

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