I'm proud to have served.....

On November 19, 2009, I celebrated 19 years on the police department. I have never had to use my firearm and it is my prayer that I can survive the next 6 years and successfully retire!

Last Post, for now anyway.....

Good morning everyone and Happy Monday. I just finished getting the weekend crime ready for my Monday meeting. Initially I started this blog in hopes to look back on it from time to time to see if I could get some additional insight on how I came to be here at this point in my life. I joined the department when I was 26 years old. I sought advice from no one and I had no clue as to what would lie ahead of me. I jumped in with both feet and took with me my favorite episodes of Columbo (The best detective ever) and Charlie's Angels. I was Sabrina, not too pretty, but really "smart." (smile)

As the years past by, so did my life. And wow, what a transformation from the 26 year old girl I use to be to the forty something woman I am today. What I've come to realize is that the crime will always be there, the in-box will always be full, the sick days are far and few between, and your coworkers will either love you or hate you. Depending on if you're their "Supervisor" or not (lol)

As law enforcement officers, we need your help. Parenting, community outreach programs, Boys & Girls Club, Mentoring, Tutoring, Prayer meetings, police tips and anything else that would help make this city safer. And not just city, crime across America. Oftentimes, people are in their own little bubble and hoping that it doesn't affect them or assuming that it doesn't because they have never been victimized. Well, that's simply not true. Our President said it best, "We are all in this together, and together "YES WE CAN!"

With all that being said, I'm saying thanks for supporting this blog and you can find me under a tree somewhere out there with my journal writing poetry, prose and short stories!

Love, peace and blessings for a GREAT LIFE. "Don't watch it pass you by, participate in it!"

A bit of compassion, is it wrong?

Today I had a difficult time focusing on my usual Sunday to do list. I usually have a rhythm that I stick to and it flows until I've realized that it's almost time to go and feel a bit relieved that I came very close to completing it. Sundays are the days where all the important people are off and I can catch up, review, update and look forward to Monday's rush.

But this morning I was watching an interview of a young man who had committed an armed robbery and it sadden me to hear his reasoning. He had what you would call a rough upbringing; no role models and a lack of parenting. At the age of 20 he is now a father himself and it appears that his child will experience some of what he went through as well.

I don't know what his sentencing will be, but am I wrong to feel some compassion for him? For his child whose father will have a criminal record? For our youth who are making decisions that are going to affect the rest of their lives? Although I never committed any criminal acts, I do have some regrets about the decisions I made at 20, and in my thirties for that matter.

I know it's a mixed emotion filled question.... If we give them another chance, the victim may not be so lucky as to survive and if we punish them on the first round, our society will be filled with young men who leave behind young children because they made a split decision without any regards for tomorrow's outcome.

I don't know, maybe I'm just feeling this way because I've never had a gun stuck in my face and a stranger demanding that I turn over everything I have. Please forgive me if you were a victim of a crime and you were tramatized as a result. I do know what side of the Law I serve, but being as though Christ forgave all of my sins; I think HIS forgiveness has spilled over into my professional life....

Morning Prayer

I surrender to you my work.
May I be who you would have me to be,
that I might do as you would have me do.
May my relationships be blessed,
with those for who I work and
with those who work for me.
May your light be upon us
as we do our work, and
may our work be yours.

In Jesus name, Amen!

Love, peace and blessings for a great day!

Praise GOD, there were "NO" Homicides in the Nation's Capitol this weekend!

Happy Tuesday

Hallelujah, there are no meetings today and I can finally do some of "my work." I've been the acting boss now for about 4 weeks and I must say, after my power point presentation; the stress has disappeared. Not to say that it won't show up again, but when it does, I will remember to breathe and pace myself accordingly. I'm learning new things about myself and I just may be cut out for something bigger...

After my 8am conference call, I'm going to open up my bible and see what GOD has in store for this Glorious Day. I pray that you find some comfort in knowing that he has something special planned for you as well. FOR YOU and you alone!

Love, peace and blessings for a crime-less day!

Specifically asking for...

Heavenly Father you want us to come to you with specific prayers. Matthew 7:7 In part, "Ask and it will be given to you..." I asked you two weeks ago for a transfer in assignment. You told me to wait and see. After having a moment (or a little longer) to vent about it, I gave thanks for where I currently am and what I currently have and continued to move forward. In addition, I said a prayer for the unknown person who will fill the position. I know that it's your will and not mine; so with that, I take comfort in knowing that you have plans for me and it's not going to happen until you give me the green light.

However; I heard a rumor that I just may be transferring. Again, I didn't get excited and I'm not packing one pencil until you bless me to move forward.

I am your servant and not that of the Police Department, so I patiently wait on your command.

The end result

I was on a break from blogging in order to work on my power point presentation. I called it the Triple P because after all the stress and time I put in, I had to name it (lol)

Anyway, in the end what I learned was that in March, the Circus is coming to town along with the Harlem Globetrotters. So you may want to get your tickets early.

All appearances will be at the Verizon Center. Additionally, so is Disney on Ice, Fleetwood Mac and Britney Spears for those interested parties.

Enjoy.
Sergeant Butterfly

Less than a week to prepare

I have never been a victim of a robbery
I have never been a victim of a burglary
I have never been a victim of rape
But I have been a victim of domestic violence...

This week I will be preparing to speak about crime in my district and ways to solve and reduce it. I can speak passionately about domestic violence; why she stays, why he controls and why the cycle continues. But I have no desire to explain why the crime continues to plague our city and what we can do about it. It has been and will be around as long as the sky is blue. Yes, there are preventive measures we can take, but Law Enforcement can not do it alone. We can temporarily blame the economy but over all it starts at home. Not all cases, but most. Your upbringing, your self esteem, respect for self and others, and your contributions to society will greatly effect the environment we live in. Personally speaking, if religion does not play a role in your life, then I don't know how Law Enforcement can eliminate all the bad guys.

The New Tenants have arrived. Welcome to the Nation's Capitol, President & Mrs. Obama

I am honored to serve and protect him, his family and this Nation. I can't explain it, but I feel a new sense of pride about what I do for a living. I think I'm really sold on his philosophy; Together, yes we can!

A moment of prayer

Heavenly father, a week ago you gave me a new assignment and I was upset about it. I actually had a tantrum and called everyone I could to ask, "why me?" You know my reasons were mostly fear and frustration about coming outside of my "comfort zone." After you allowed me to express my feelings, no matter how childish they were at the time; you then calmly explained to me that you have different plans for me. Not that there was anything wrong with my plans, but you asked me to just give it a try. What's the worst that can happen? You asked.

And God, as usual; you were right. This past week has been incredibly smooth sailing. My inner voice keeps saying, "it's only the calm before the storm." And you keep repeating, "you can do it my child, hold on to me and meditate on my word."

Psalm 27:1

The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?

It's almost here

After tomorrow, we will be working 12 hour shifts until the 22 of January. The department is really going all out. We have cots coming in so that members can spend the night and we have lunch wagons, hand warmers, heated socks, fur hats, bomb dogs, snipers, military armored cars, freshly pressed uniforms, outside agencies, out of town guest, sold out hotels, late night bars, standing room only, closed off bridges, celebrity parties, and tons of excitement in the air. But with all this preparation, have we prayed?

I am mentally exhausted already...

Unlike most people, my week begins on Sundays. This is usually a great day for me because all of the important people are off and I can catch up on my work, listen to the gospel and have some peace through out the day. Not that criminals don't commit crimes on Sundays but oftentimes we get very few calls. As a matter of fact we just received a robbery call that turned out to be a simple assault. (For us cops, it's not as serious as it sounds) However, it's still a crime.

Anyway yesterday my boss called me at home, which is never a good sign. He wanted to inform me that he will be transferring and I will be in charge indefinitely. I have to admit as a new Christian, I was mad. I vented and complained, not to him of course but after I got off the phone. I called as many people as I could and went on and on and on.

Although my inner voice was telling me that God is using me for something bigger than myself, I tried to shut her up. It didn't work. She began to pray and relax and even laughed about it. I must say that having faith in the Lord and having my armor (the gospel) at my reach has made my life so much different than it was a year ago. This job is stressful, unpredictable and thankless but as long as I remember who my real boss is, my inner self is a lot more forgiving to my outer self when she goes off on one of her tantrums.

Grateful

Hello everyone, I'm back at the J O B! I'm blessed and I'm going to have a great outlook for the coming year (well, I'm going to give it my best shot) Praise GOD, five more years and I will be a civilian like most of you! The job won't dictate my personal life "yippee!" I will finally get 8 hours of sleep and walk the malls and eat out and go to amusement parks and just be normal.... wait a minute, what's normal? (smile)

I was so looking forward to my winter vacation and somehow hurt my sciatic nerve. WOW, I spent 10 days on my sofa with 3 different medications. That was not fun and one thing I learned from that experience is that it's no fun being single and sick. The next time, God forbid there is one, I'm going to hire me a male nurse (lol)

As always, please pray for me and my brothers and sisters in blue across the country and especially during the coming weeks as we prepare for the big day, the swearing in of our New President in the Nation's Capitol!

Love and Peace