A beloved uncle who continues to help guide and advise.
A cousin who helped this beautiful borderland become like home two decades ago.
A roommate during a tenure in graduate school with whom many laughs, stories, and memories were shared.
His partner, a pillar of beauty and strength, who walks beside him in the same career.
A cherished friend who helped turn my house into a home (and then visited around a bonfire in the backyard).
What do these five individuals have in common?
What is their common denominator?
Even though each come from remarkably different roads, they are all (or have been) police officers.
Police officers are a special sort.
If who we are is defined by what we do, I can’t help but to acknowledge the good officers in our hometown and region.
Imagine what motivations and drives lead an individual to follow their heart like a compass towards a profession steeped in the desire to provide service to one’s community, to ensure people are safe, and that good laws are honoured.
At the same time, they hold that compass knowing the very real dangers and hazards endemic to providing such service and safety for others.
Finally, to be sure, also knowing that road can be lonely or a thankless calling where critique, challenge, and cynicism are met far more often than are appreciation and acknowledgement of the heart behind the badge, the prepared mind behind the brim, and the soul behind the suit.
Ultimately, these words are an ode to police officers – those that protect others who they may never meet and serve a purpose greater than self with equal parts integrity of character and intensity of focus.
As the eyes of reason gradually open with insight and time, it’s come crystal clear to me that good laws are not shaped to control. Rather, good laws are there to guide.
So, what role do these men and women of character in all of this?
If good laws are there to guide us towards the inspired ideas of the ideal (be it the Just Society spoken of by Mill, the Republic shared by Plato, or destinations still yet to dreamed), it is our peace officers that safely guide us there – a blue wall between us and dangerous along the way and imperfections that will always fall short of the seamless ideal.
Through the feeding-back megaphone of social media (and the tendency for broadcasts to amplify tragedy and shrink the alternative to a whisper), it’s not uncommon that we hear of police who have not lived up to their sacred responsibility (or even trampled upon it) more than we hear of those who walk the line. Trampling upon such a responsibility does occur and it rests upon the highest form of the unfortunate and the inexcusable. However, time and insight reveal this is the far exception – far less than the rule, as the number of good men and women of character in the uniform are incalculable.
I suppose the intent of this column is merely a reminder of how special these individuals truly are. I have nothing to tell or sell other than to share some thoughts about support towards those who both share (and protect) our home.
Let’s honour these guardians, these protectors, these neighbours.
Let’s take the time to listen to them about what we can do, as fellow neighbours and citizens, to support them. What can we do in law and policy to ensure their hard work and effort in the immediate can lead to outcomes that help them protect our communities in the long-term?
Let’s not forget that their service often comes at a great cost and avenues of mental and emotional health. Ensuring what is needed for them as they ensure what is needed for us all is not only important, but a magical conjunction of love and service – beautiful and multi-directional.
I feel fortunate to know five.
What else do these five individuals have in common?
Each are luminous gems fitted and placed in an indescribable crown.
And every single officer (both here and afar) described above?
You are embedded in the same crown and who shine just the same.
From my vantage point, our hometown absolutely shimmers.
Thank you for what you do for us all.
Your badges are ones of honour and the blue wall you provide (and have provided) is nothing short of royal blue.
– Robert Animikii Horton is an educator, orator, writer, esotericist, and member of Rainy River First Nations
