Recently, I was pulled over by a State Trooper for speeding on 209. It was an early Saturday morning, and no one was out on the roads yet. I won’t lie, I was in fact speeding, I knew it… and he knew it. I was driving into Kingston and the Trooper was coming toward me. I watched in my rear view mirror as he did the U turn and came after me. I did exactly what my father taught me to do… I immediately pulled over, way off to the side. I rolled down the window, put my hands on the wheel in the 10 and 2 position with my palms open… I took a deep breath and waited for him to approach my car. I watched him in my side mirror as he got out of the car. As he approached, I saw him put his hand on his gun… and it hit me…. in what I can only describe as a very humbling moment, I realized that this man, who has committed his life to protecting and serving this community, who takes his life into his hands every single time he pulls a car over, just wants to go home to his family at the end of his shift…. He approached the driver side of my car with caution… all I could think about was how grateful I am that people, like this young man, have chosen this career…. and at the same time, how we live an era where police officers have been ambushed while having lunch in their patrol car, and that this young man was simply doing his job. After all, I was in fact speeding. He asked for my license and registration. Again, thinking back to what my father taught me long before I ever got behind the wheel of the car. “no sudden movements, always tell the officer what you are going to do, before you do it.”… I could almost hear my father’s voice.  I was raised to respect the police. My uncle was a New York City cop for over 30 years. Even though I had heard the stories about my aunt worrying every time my uncle went to work, those stories were just that, stories.. But now I am in love with a cop, and those stories hit closer to home. My cop isn’t in a patrol car pulling people over, but his officers are. And every single one of those officers have someone at home that loves them. I just read an article that said in 2015 there were 60 police officers killed in the United States at the hands of violent suspects. That does not include other causes of death like traffic accidents.  That’s 60 men and/or women who left for work, and never came home. 60 families that will never be the same. 60 people who dedicated their lives to helping others, and died while doing it. I don’t understand how we became a nation where it would be acceptable to utter the words “He didn’t do no wrong, he just shot a cop”. Those are the words of Stephanie King when she was interviewed about a family friend, 19 year old Najee Harmon, who was arrested for shooting an officer. You can watch that interview on youtube at  http://bit.ly/PoliceVideos.  The sick irony of that interview is that if Stephanie needed help the next day, the officers from that same police force would show up at her house to protect her. I don’t understand how we have become who we are as a nation. How have we become a nation of people who hold signs that say “Black lives matter” when we all know the sign should say “All lives matter”. How is it that we are raising a generation of young people who have no respect for the law. The law that was designed to protect them, sometimes from themselves.  If you watch the video of Stephanie King you will see that she allowed Najee Harmon to hide in her house over night, knowing the police were looking for him. In the interview she so proudly states that she was not charged with harboring a fugitive because she “didn’t do nothin’ wrong”. And oh yeah… her children were in the house at the time. So that cycle of disrespect will continue to grow. Shame on Stephanie, and shame on that police department, or that district attorney’s office, or whomever made the decision to not charge her with the crime that she committed, and bragged about.  They too taught her children something that day.  I keep asking myself,  How did this happen?… How did we become the way we are? …  I think back to the expression “You live what you learn”. In reality, we have become a nation full of parents who don’t parent their children. I respect police officers, because I was taught to respect police officers. And I know what some people may think, there are bad police officers out there… and that is correct, there are. And there are bad teachers out there, and bad lawyers out there and yes, even bad priests out there. There is good and bad in all of us, some more than others.

So at that traffic stop on 209, I did exactly what the officer told me to do. I told him that my license was in my coat pocket before I reached for it, just like my father taught me all those years ago. Weeks have passed since I was pulled over, and yet I still think about that officer reaching for his gun as he approached my car. I can’t imagine having that level of anxiety at work, and I thank God that he and so many others have chosen that as their career.