CAUTION

Yesterday a law enforcement officer in our area died from the result of a traffic crash while he was on the way to a Burglary call.  That's four law enforcement officers of whom I have received news of their deaths in the line of duty just this month.

I have seen officers crash into vehicles at intersection when the opposing traffic did not yield to the emergency lights and siren.  I have seen patrol vehicles struck by other traffic when the patrol vehicle is sitting still and in a usually safe place.  I have seen death and injury where it should never have happened.  Sometimes the cause of these incidents is because the officer assumed something not true...  Was in too great a hurry...  Or, in most cases, someone else was not paying attention and not maintaining proper attitude and/or control.

Today I officiated a Celebration of Life Service for a retired officer with whom I worked through a most difficult event in his life over thirty years ago.  I was a new chaplain/officer here just after the mid-seventies (having been a Virginia State Trooper before coming here).  About midnight I received a request to respond to assist the Investigative Division with a death notification and subsequently to minister to an officer who had been shot.  After being shot he had shot and killed the man who had shot him.

I got to the officer's hospital room about 4 AM just after they had finished molding and pinning his leg back together and hanging his leg in a cast from a specially built supporting device.  The room was dark as I entered.  Just as soon as I was silhouetted in the doorway from the hall lighting, the officer burst forth with a question that had been demanding to be asked and answered if possible...   "Chaplain, does God understand?"   I was ready ...  "YES!!!  He expects you to do what needs doing.
If that man would shoot you, he would likely try to hurt or kill someone else as well.  Where he was and how he was acting prove he was up to no good activity.  He dictated the situation by ambushing you.  It was your duty to try and stop him.  He died in the process of breaking the law and the peace.  He dictated the circumstances...
You had to respond to those circumstances as best you could.  His death was the result of his own actions and his assault and the injury he inflicted upon you."  The answer brought quick relief to the wounded officer. 

The officer had been assigned to investigate a suspicious individual behind a 24-hour gas station in a semi-rural location.  There were no other businesses close by.  A field filled with trees and brush was behind the suspicious individual.  The only attendant had spotted a man wearing a hood and peering toward the collection booth from over the top of a dumpster.  When the officer arrived and approached, the suspicious individual began running away from the officer and firing a handgun at him at the same time.  The officer was struck in the leg above and below the knee shattering the bones like broken glass .  The officer returned fire, striking and killing the suspicious individual.

Today we gave him the Memorial Service he desired and gave him full Military/Police  honors.  He had also served in the military in Nam as an MP.  The reception afterward was well attended and many stories were shared.  His family heard facets of him that they had never known because he seldom talked about his job and activities involving his career with them.  Several of them said they had a treasure of new information to take home with them.

This officer had given us twenty one years of very good service and had been medically retired since 1994.  He experienced a bout with cancer a few years ago and had beaten it then.  Cancer resurfaced in his Pancreas and this battle he did not win but he never lost his sense of humor, compassion and love even to the very last moment.  He was surrounded by family and they are more fortunate than most Peace Keeper families...  They have some very rich memories to share and cherish in spite of the tragedy of the illness.

We had Police Memorial Services Monday to honor our officers killed in the line of duty.  Tonight, Saturday night, we are ending our 2009 National Police Week.  The national celebration of Police Memorial Day was celebrated in Washington, D.C. this week at the National Police Memorial that already contains over 17,000 names of officers killed in the line of duty in this nation in our short history..  We have been wearing mourning bands on our badges all week.  I spent a lot of time thinking on and preparing for all of these memorial services and participating in the two here.

I have periodically sounded alarms before in these messages...  Especially about careful approach to individuals, call locations and ambush possibilities.  No matter how often I mention these situations, it will never be enough.  My intent is to adjust your thinking.  If I can't do that, well, maybe I can get you hot enough that it will cause you to make adjustments.  If no change is brought about, it will not be because I did not try to get your attention. 

I have been there...  This Journey started for me in 1962.  I am here today because of God's Amazing Grace.  I made foolish mistakes in the rookie years.  I learned lessons the hard way sometimes, but I did learn them.  I learned to watch my partners when I had one to watch.  I learned to not relax on a call.  I learned not to let down my guard.  Sometimes my vigilance saved me...  Sometimes it saved my fellow officer...  Sometimes it preserved an attempted arrest and brought success without injury or destruction to anyone.  Sometimes it surprised a perp who thought he had it made and was going to hurt someone or make an escape...  But some of it was learned the hard experience way rather than the easy way... And I am trying to keep you from that hard method of learning if possible.

I once watched the results of an eager officer chasing a man wanted for homicide wind up with the eager officer being shot with his own weapon.  He had outrun his partner.  His partner was not capable of keeping up with him and also was ill.  Eager-Beaver stopped and called to his partner but got no response because the partner was not close by...  He did not wait for partner nor backup...  He went searching for the wanted man alone and was ambushed, beaten, disarmed and shot with his own weapon.  Thank God he was shot full in the body armor and he was not seriously wounded...  But no extra trauma plate, so he was temporarily down and out from the concussion over the heart.  A sharp-shooter/sniper took out the wanted man immediately after he shot the officer.  There was no need for Eager-Beaver to rush.  The wanted man was inside a building and the building was under surveillance and surrounded before Eager-Beaver was shot.

Your safety is of utmost importance...  At least the preservation of the best safety possible under the circumstances.  Taking your time and moving slowly, deliberately pausing to listen, is more effective than rushing in.  Caution gives survival and success the very best chance.  I know because I have been there!

I have evaluated calls I have been on after they were over and noted the things that might be done a better way.  I have made my career a life-long learning process.  I am not blowing smoke.  I am not just passing gas into the wind...  I am trying to do all I can to gain your attention and convince you that there can be better ways of accomplishing the job we all took an oath to achieve for the peace and welfare of the people...  And ourselves.  If we do not survive, then someone else has to come take care of us and still do the job we were sent to do.  Maintaining a careful attitude is the first key to survival.  The second key is careful action.  Rushing into any situation is seldom wise and can be very dangerous to the Peace Keeper.

I could fill many pages with more experiences of the types I have just used.  Over 3000 hours of training plus many personal experiences have brought me to this keyboard tonight.  I have seen too many deaths and injuries.  I have attended too many Memorial Services.  I have stood by too many open graves that were receiving the remains of friends and fellow Peace Keepers.  I have dedicated my life to learning how to live, learn, survive and be successful.  I am called to care for and about you and do all that I might ever be able to do to affect you for your good.  I can encourage.  I can instruct.  I can listen.  I can weep with you if you need that.  I can laugh with you if that be your desire.  My Commander-In-Chief has led me through a great deal of life in my time on this Earth.  My retired Chief used to tell me I had to be at least a hundred years old to have done all that I have done in my life...  And that was over ten years ago the last time he told me that.

I am under constraint to the depths of my spiritual heart to own all of you in peace keeping as my family.  My relationship with you is thicker than the relationship of blood or marriage.  We are Compadres' (people of the same heart).  We are family...  We are Warriors...  We are Peace Keepers.  My Commander-In-Chief and I are so very glad that you are here and that you are who you are and do what you do and have done.  There is not enough time in this life for me to convey the fullness of our appreciation to you...  So once again I will simply say THANK YOU...  THANK YOU...  THANK YOU!!!...  UN-NUMBERABLE TIMES THANK YOU!!!

Military Peace Keepers, I know that this message is aimed more toward the law enforcement Peace Keepers than for you but it could be a very great help to you as well.  Please remember that when I use the term Peace Keeper, I mean all of you in all levels of law enforcement and the military because I do not see any separation between us and our goals.  We all work for, and took an oath to defend, our people and see to the preservation of life, liberty and peace for all of them and all of us.

All of you, "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.

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 still doing better except for the pain.  It is my hope and prayer that it subsides soon.  Life will be much easier for her when it does.

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
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