"Freedom works best when we serve each other!" From the movie FIRST KNIGHT...
I have pondered this statement since it struck me as I viewed this movie the last time I saw it. It struck me how clearly it states the attitude of the Peace Keeper. Peace Keepers give up their own way and desires to dedicate themselves to the safety, survival and welfare of others. Peace Keepers choose to put themselves under the command of the government to provide a safe world in which citizens might live and prosper. If not for the Peace Keepers there would be no peace and no life as we have known it in recent past times, especially since the War Between the States when the aftermath dictated that there become a well developed system of law enforcement and military to avoid more war with and between citizens.
Aye, we put ourselves under the command of the people who run the government... But in the past the leaders of wise government put the Peace Keepers under the command of experienced Peace Keepers who knew how to lead and how to instill the knowledge to do the best job into the ones who would voluntarily enter into the field of peace keeping. Peace, safety and justice were the most sought after goals.
There have been times there was no government or no good government. In those times men of peace stepped up and began to work at forming a workable government for the peace, safety and welfare of all the people. Sometimes it was one strong personality... Sometimes it was a group of such persons such as the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Their stand cost all of them very greatly. It cost some of them everything including their lives and families... But they gave this United States of America to us to carry on the pursuit of the fullness of life to which all men are entitled. For us today it comes through the Chain of Command.
In all of my years of experience I have always had a Colonel over me... But that Colonel was over Majors who were over Captains who were over Lieutenants who were over Sergeants who were over the Peace Keepers who did the field work...
And the Peace Keepers who do the field work; patrol, investigation, public relations
and all of the other duties; usually have no visible supervision because they are trained to be self starters and conduct the business of peace keeping without any visible supervision or assistance unless it is requested.
On day shift I would probably see the people in my local command structure if I went to the local office or the precinct. In the State Police I might even see all levels up to Captain, but mostly at the office. Occasionally I would have a car pull abreast of me, hear a horn toot and turn to see the Colonel and some other high ranking officer with him with a trooper driving the Cadillac and they would pass me by and go on their way.
Currently when I am working I am assigned to a precinct but I am often sent to HQ with packages or to make pick-ups and I could see numerous people in command level all the way to the Chief... Almost all of my work is alone in car patrol duty or on assignments unless I am assisting at emergency scenes. As it is with all Peace Keepers, what happens in my day is up to me unless I am assigned to a specific task by a supervisor or dispatch. I can be as busy as I want to be. Where I go and when I go within my assigned duty area is up to me as long as I get the job done. On evening or night shift I see hardly any other Peace Keepers except those assigned to car patrol unless a situation happens that demands supervision and command level presence. Many officers want to know how I find so much work to take care of.
Walking patrol is very different... I might see numerous supervisors and all levels of command on walking patrol duty on a busy night. On a not so busy night I might not see any other Peace Keepers for up to an hour.
I have worked extremely large areas and extremely small areas. I have worked where I saw few cars and I have worked areas where I saw thousands of cars that kept the roads and streets covered and traffic hardly able to move. I have patrolled areas where I saw very few people and I have patrolled areas where the people were so plentiful that we had to shut down vehicular traffic on the streets to give the pedestrians a place to be able to walk and move. I have dealt with individuals and I have dealt with crowds. I have never been bored nor have I not been able to find something that needed my attention. I love the job of watching traffic and I love the job of watching people. I love patrol whether on foot or in a vehicle.
Some nights on foot patrol I have had young officers complain that there was nothing going on. My response is always, "Isn't that what we are trying to accomplish?" Our first job is to keep the peace. If the peace is broken, then our job is to restore the peace. These jobs may take one of us a few minutes or thousands of us several years... Yet our jobs are always the same... Keep the peace or restore the peace.
What draws us to this profession? It is likely because we have learned some version of the statement above from FIRST KNIGHT... We give up our freedom to serve in preserving or restoring the peace in the lives of others including in the lives of those that we love and who love us. We saw the need and we decided to do it if we could get accepted. Once in the profession, if we hear guns, explosions or crashes, we run to it as others are running away. If there are injuries, we try to relieve suffering even as others just stand and gawk. And it is likely that we are Peace Keepers because we probably could not be happy doing anything else... This applies especially to the ones who stay in it until they are forced to leave it by death, injury or forced retirement. Greater love hath no man than he lay down his life for his brethren. It actually says, "No one has greater love [no one has shown stronger affection] than to lay down (give up) his own life for his friends." (John 15:13 Amplified Bible)...
"...lay down (give up)"... That does not mean just the ones who die performing their duty... It also means every one who signs on to become a Peace Keeper and receive the assignment to fulfill the tasks assigned to them, whatever that assigned task might be. It means the ones on the front lines of the effort and it means the ones who support the ones on the front lines... Those in the supply lines... Those in communications... It means Doctors, Medics and Nurses... The ones with the guns and the ones who help them do their jobs. To stretch a point it even means the mechanic who keeps the vehicles running and the air units flying and everyone in-between including fire fighters, emergency medical personnel and chaplains whenever we work together.
I think and meditate a lot on this subject and I am always amazed at the great lengths to which Peace Keepers will go in order to perform the duties of being Peace Keepers. It is not that we have no fear... We simply put fear to work for us instead of allowing it to hinder us. It is not that we have no emotions... It is that we have learned how to control our emotions until the job at hand is finished and we are someplace where we can release our emotions safely. The most important thing is that we must learn to vent the checked emotions and not allow them to build up to an explosion... And we must learn to use positive coping techniques and not the negative ones which will do us more damage in the long run.
Peace Keepers, there are few outside the profession that truly understand us. Most of those whom we love and who love us do not understand us. The people with whom we must deal seldom understand us... But without us there is no peace and safety for very long any place in our nation or in our world. Therefore we must do that which we are drawn to do even if no one else understands us except another Peace Keeper. That is why I am here writing every week to let you know that there is someone else who knows where you are and, who not only cares for and about you but who also understands you and how this profession affects you. I am here to encourage you in your efforts and to encourage you to continue to do the best that you are able to do. We are God's Ministers of Rightness ( He says so in His Book). We are here to do what it takes to protect the peaceful people and execute His wrath upon the people who will not be peaceful. We are provided the authority and the weapons to accomplish the jobs to which we are assigned. I have been engaged in this profession in one form or another for 47 years and I do not look forward to the day that I will not ever be able to continue. I have done the field work of patrol, forensics, investigations of all kinds... And I never wanted out of those actions but then I was called to become a chaplain and I passed through all levels of that duty to being the Administrator. Age forced me to have to retire from being a law enforcement officer and I hated it. I sought for other ways to serve even as I continued service as the Chaplain Administrator. I was then given a position as a traffic safety officerin Community Services and put back into a patrol car where I could work with the officers and assist them as well as perform my own duties. That met my needs until my daughter became so ill that she needed constant care. Daily I look forward to being able to get back to that job and being with the officers. For the past nine months I have supervised and administered the chaplain program from my office in my home while I care for my daughter. I also look forward to the day that I will be able to get back to the streets in chaplain duty as well. I do miss the work and the department personnel.
THANK YOU FOR BEING THERE AND THANK YOU FOR THE JOBS YOU DO AND HAVE DONE FOR ALL OF US! My Commander-In-Chief and I are eternally grateful.
"BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!" ALWAYS be alert, watchful, suspicious and wary. Take the very best care of you as you care for and about others. See to the strength and well being of your spirit as well as all the rest of you. Your spirit must be strong for you to be successful.
I shall never cease to give this message to you and for you. Your worth and value are not capable of being estimated. What you do on any one tour of duty is not understandable to most people outside the profession... They just do not know the value of what you do nor the value of what it costs you to do it... But, thank God, you just go right on and do it anyway. All of you and each of you are amazing and marvelous people. I am most honored to be among you and to know many of you as my Compadres.
Call or write if I may be of any service... Or if you just want to encourage me... Feedback encourages all who write... It helps to know we are reaching someone who reads the message.
My daughter is doing much better and not hurting as badly. It has been a much better week. Thank you for your prayers and concern.
As it has always been... So it still is!!!
"VICTORIOUS WARRIORS WIN FIRST...
AND THEN GO TO WAR,
WHILE DEFEATED WARRIORS GO TO WAR FIRST...
AND THEN SEEK TO WIN." Sun tzu
Training and practice are everything!
Without them, the best results are not obtained!
ONLY LIVE PEACE KEEPERS SEE THE VICTORY!!!
THEY SEE IT ONLY BECAUSE OTHERS HAVE MADE THEIR ETERNAL
PAYMENTS OF SWEAT, BLOOD, TEARS AND LIFE FOR THAT VICTORY!
WITH THE DEEPEST OF APPRECIATION AND RESPECT...
BE BLESSED (A CONDITION TO BE ENVIED)...
BE SUCCESSFUL... BE SAFE...
[My injunction to be safe means doing all you know to do as you do your job... it means
doing the best you can with what you have where you are using all your faculties to get
the job done well and with good results conquering evil and keeping or restoring peace...
it does not mean to avoid duty and honor... it does not mean to cower or allow anything
to hinder you in the process of duty according to rules, law and ethics... it means that if
the demand takes your earthly life you destroy as much evil as possible in the process.
That is my definition of being safe... doing the best you can and leaving the rest to God
or whomever else is responsible... being best employed for the sake and protection of all
the things and people that we hold dear.]
I represent, write for... and give the credit to:
God the Father (my Commander-in-Chief),
Jesus Christ the Son (the Eternal Captain of my life) and
the Holy Spirit of God (my Eternal Teacher, Keeper and Guide).
In Christ I live... with Him and for you I serve...
And I rejoice that you are there whether you are Christian or not...
For God, Country and the Peace Keeper...
D. R. (Don) Staton, Chaplain to Peace Keepers,
Surviving Peace Keeper,
Virginia State Police Alumni,
RETIRED Police Officer Virginia Beach Police Dept.,
Senior Chaplain and Chaplain Administrator VBPD,
DCJS Certified Police Instructor,
Community Service Officer (Traffic Safety) VBPD
757-431-2190, chpln1@verizon.net
3709 Beacon Lane, Virginia Beach, VA 23452
===============================================================
All rights reserved. May not be duplicated without permission, except to be
forwarded with all source information for any quotation intact.
To subscribe to this free e-mail message for Peace Keepers,
write to Chaplain D. R. Staton at chpln1@verizon.net or at
3709 Beacon Lane, Virginia Beach, VA 23452.