It’s Okay to be YOU as a Cop

It’s Okay to be YOU as a Cop
By: Officer Deon Joseph

Sometimes when you are on vacation, you stop feeling like a servant and start feeling like yourself.

What I have learned how to do over the years is infuse the two. The private and professional me are not much different. I have to be me in uniform and out.

I feel it helps me relate to people better. People have to know there is a heart beating behind the badge and not a robot quoting penal codes.

I believe in the end, the people we serve in marginalized communities do not want a perfectly polished supersoldier devoid of emotion with shiny boots.

I think they want to know we have faith, love sports, like a good joke from time to time and that we love our families. I think they want a heart-to-heart connection with the one protecting them. They want to know that we feel.

I think as law enforcement officers we shoot ourselves in the foot often when we present ourselves as perfect or flawless.

I am flawed, I get emotional, I have fears, and I care and have opinions.

In the past; those things were considered weaknesses in my profession. Yet this is how each of them work for me.

In recognizing I am flawed, I am more careful not to fall victim to my flaws. I am constantly aware of my humanity. As well as the consequences for those I care about, for officers and citizens if I succumb to it. I’m in year 26 … So far so good.

In being emotional, the people who I help see that I am real, and am truly concerned about them. They are not just numbers to me.

Having fears keeps me and the people I serve alive. I am a powerful man of incredible physical strength. But I also know that even the strongest of men can fall when they believe they are invincible. I fear for the safety of others, which causes me and countless others to push beyond our fears to help save others.

Caring does not make you weak. Yes, many will take it as weakness, especially the criminal element, but at the same time that is what many criminals fear about me. They know if they hurt what society calls “the least of these.” 280 pounds of care is coming for them no matter how broken our system is right now. I truly care about the people I serve no matter their faults or flaws.

Having opinions can be risky as a cop. But if your heart is in the right place, then your opinions can be the catalyst for change in the lives of many. People have to know how the front line feels sometimes so they don’t make up their own narratives about our feelings.

Being ME works for ME, on duty and off. I’m not changing anytime soon.