A-Type is only a type

At times, I have always wondered if I am some anomaly in the law enforcement world.  I do enjoy catching "dirtbags," but the concept of being a sheepdog like an attack German Shepard has always been a little foreign to me.  Don't get me wrong, the need to act is not something to compromise.  Safety for sure.  But the need to be a billy club welding authoritarian seems a little much for an 8-12 hour shift.  Thus the title of this post: A-Type is only a type.

Think about the Lord's personality.  He was firm and loving at the same time.  We can be the same.  We can counsel and love while still upholding the laws and consequences of actions.  I have definitely been guilty of letting passion overtake my emotions.  Nothing drives anger more than presumed "righteous" retaliation.  No one should feel less for allowing anger for misdeeds done to the innocent.  But it is when we let that anger fester beyond reasonable that our loss of control can turn situations far worse.  I should have prefaced this entire block by saying I am not suggesting what you personally are doing is wrong.  In fact, I believe pretty much all of you reading are in fact doing right by the Lord and your fellow man.  I am merely putting into your mind the need of constant re-evaluation.

This world we live in can be a cruel judge of character.  23.999 hours a day, LEOs around the world successfully protect the public from the evil out there.  You perform tremendous work even through stress, persecution, and sleep deprivation.  You serve when you are sick, when you are hungry, when you are depressed.  You watch over the community in areas where you are at a ration greater than 1000 citizens per 1 LEO.  And you do all this without a single blemish.  Until the one .0005 second incident when you lost sight.  Then all of the years of work is wiped away to put your blemish on display.  We have seen a lot of this thanks to the wonderful and ever changing age of information.  You could still find yourself in this position regardless of what you do, but maybe this small reminder will help decrease your odds.

Ok, now back to the encouragement.  You are your own type.  While we all share qualities befitting a LEO, those qualities are only one part of you.  B-Z types are all still needed.  Do not let anger or fear guide your life.  Practice safety and your verbal judo.  Counsel after custody.  Use all of the talents the Lord has blessed you with.  And remember still the spiritual nature of your talents.  There are many type of sheepdogs in the world (seriously, look it up.  There are a ton).  Be the one Heavenly Father has prepared you to be.

Godspeed, LEOs.

-LDS Sheepdog

PS I am hoping to do another round of both the Reader's Choice and Spouse questions.  The goal is to have the posts by Thanksgiving.  Please forward your questions from other LEOs if they are too afraid to post.  The most anonymous way is emailing me (because I know that was a concern last go around).  I will also post the questions posed to all of you for answering (again, email for anonymity) so we can all learn together.  Thank you.