..I'd ask them to read this link before they do so, and then think again.
My dad was a traffic officer; he was also a trained marksman. This was in a time when forces did not have a separate firearms unit, but had trained officers from the ranks who would draw arms when required. He always played things down, so that we did not grow up in perpetual fear for his safety. Nonetheless, we had some awareness of the risk his work involved. For example, I do remember being aware that he was in a group of officers that came face to face with an armed murder suspect in the early 70s. The guy did go for his gun, but was overpowered before he could point it and shoot.
One thing he only told me years later, when I was an adult, was about an incident that occurred in the 1950s, long before I was born. He was on a night shift in Co. Durham, and he and his partner had just returned to the station with an arrested man. A call came through to attend a break in (at Lumley Castle, I think, but I may be wrong) and my dad and his partner agreed to take it, but when they got back in the car, it wouldn't start. Another officer sitting in the car next to them offered to go in their place. My dad's partner went with him, my dad stayed back to try and get the car going. Half an hour later, news came through that my dad's partner had been shot dead by armed robbers. But for a flooded carb, that could have been my dad and, bearing in mind this was before I was born, it would have meant no me.
One thing that does bug me about how these stories are reported, is when the officer is referred to as being "off-duty". It might be a cliche, but police officers really are never off duty. At most, they may be off-shift, but they are always on duty.
My dad was a traffic officer; he was also a trained marksman. This was in a time when forces did not have a separate firearms unit, but had trained officers from the ranks who would draw arms when required. He always played things down, so that we did not grow up in perpetual fear for his safety. Nonetheless, we had some awareness of the risk his work involved. For example, I do remember being aware that he was in a group of officers that came face to face with an armed murder suspect in the early 70s. The guy did go for his gun, but was overpowered before he could point it and shoot.
One thing he only told me years later, when I was an adult, was about an incident that occurred in the 1950s, long before I was born. He was on a night shift in Co. Durham, and he and his partner had just returned to the station with an arrested man. A call came through to attend a break in (at Lumley Castle, I think, but I may be wrong) and my dad and his partner agreed to take it, but when they got back in the car, it wouldn't start. Another officer sitting in the car next to them offered to go in their place. My dad's partner went with him, my dad stayed back to try and get the car going. Half an hour later, news came through that my dad's partner had been shot dead by armed robbers. But for a flooded carb, that could have been my dad and, bearing in mind this was before I was born, it would have meant no me.
One thing that does bug me about how these stories are reported, is when the officer is referred to as being "off-duty". It might be a cliche, but police officers really are never off duty. At most, they may be off-shift, but they are always on duty.
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