Sunshine the past couple days in our neck of the woods – but we are having some winds along with them.  Carla is looking forward to burning the piles of debris she has created in cleaning up the garden. 

Now, if, on her days off, the weather cooperates – by keeping the winds down - she should be able to get that done this week.  Then Josh can come in with the tractor and prepare the ground.

Rough week, physically, for me this week.  So far tests we have run are negative – which is good – but doesn’t explain what is wrong.  Nothing serious, just bad enough to keep me down and from doing some of the things I want to get done – which includes my writings.  Still meditate and pray, just don’t have the wherewithal to put meaningful sentences together.

Feeling much better and hopefully getting over this bout, but it is lingering.

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Deuteronomy 5:17 “ Thou shalt not kill.”  KJV

Every Law Enforcement officer that wears a shield or star must understand that in the course of his/her duties the possibility always exists that the officer may have to kill someone.

No one understands it better than a Christian Police Officer.

I doubt that there isn’t a Christian PO that hasn’t heard ‘you can’t be a Christian AND a police officer’ because of this commandment.  Yet, there are; thankfully.

So how does a Christian PO deal with this dichotomy?  It is a very real dilemma.  The PO knows that to serve and protect are just not words; they describe a real mission and obligation to the citizens and fellow officers.

We must serve our citizens and we must protect them to the very best of our abilities, even if it includes taking the life of another person.

Every officer, city, county, state or federal, that puts a gun on their hip KNOWS that, and must prepare themselves for that possibility.

It doesn’t matter if the PO is a member of a small department or a large one, it can happen anytime – the first day on the job or the last one – and anywhere a city of 100 population, or 3 million.  There is no place free from the possibility that the PO may have to shoot to protect himself or another.

Christian Military people go through the same mental process, many become conscientious objectors – and they serve as paramedics and in ways that doesn’t require them to take up a firearm.

I have no criticism of these individuals, there are many ways to serve our country and our fellow man and that is one of them and an important one.

But many Christians do take up arms and must deal with the possibility that they will have to fire at an enemy and kill him.

The missions of the two professions are similar, they are there to protect the citizens of our country and those that are being oppressed, and they serve the country in that capacity.

I had a discussion with a Viet Nam Vet one time.  It was about the fact that a local deputy had killed a suspect, it was a ‘good’ shooting which basically means he didn’t have any other real choices, and was having a difficult time dealing with the fact he had killed another human being.

The Vet genuinely couldn’t understand that, he had been a sniper and had killed several of the enemy and he too was a Christian.  He didn’t feel any remorse.

While the missions are similar the way the professions work and train is different.  While simply stated and without going into detail, basically the military seeks and destroys the enemy, he doesn’t interact with them.

The PO has intimate contact with the public.  The emphasis is to help them and bring the criminals to justice, not kill them.  His nature is to NOT kill, but to avoid it as much as possible using other means to subdue the suspect, whenever possible.

That is a major reasons we see standoffs so much now, the idea is to take time, don’t endanger the general public and do all that is possible in getting the suspect to surrender without charging into the barricaded area very likely killing the person.

While different people handle things differently, this deputy was, like a lot of officers, having difficulty with taking a life.

The Vet better understood the grief the officer was going through as we talked. 

Of course we also know that many of our Veterans suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome and some of those do suffer because they had to take a life of another person.

And, it doesn’t make any difference if they are Christian or not, they are humans; humans aren’t supposed to kill other humans.

Citizens often do not understand what a PO must train for nor how they train.  Training with firearms is extremely important, knowing when to shoot is as important as to how to shoot.  The training enables the officer to be proficient at both and if the PO must use the firearm he is able to better shoot with accuracy and endanger as few others as possible.

Throughout my career, both on and off duty, I spent countless hours visiting and speaking to students in the schools, all the way from kindergarten through high school. 

One of the questions asked by many was, ‘Have you ever killed someone.’

The answer, fortunately, was no.

I can remember the first time I was asked if it is true that a PO must ‘shoot to kill.’  Back then, that WAS the phrase that was drilled into every officer’s head.

Meaning, if you take that gun out of your holster you must be ready to kill the person you are pointing it at.  There was no shooting of a leg, or gun out of the hand.  The PO is trained to shoot the largest target, the chest area, and the possibility is great that it will kill the person.

Now, the phrase is ‘shoot to stop the threat.’  They both mean the same thing, it is just a better description of what is actually taught and what the PO is trying to do.

Back to the question:  It was a Jr. High School student and when I said, yes, we shoot to kill, her eyes went wide and I could see she really was shocked.

I then explained the terminology and the fact that when the suspect is down, we do not go over and make sure they are dead and if not we kill them; we go over and administer first aid, trying to SAVE them until an ambulance arrives.

I was surprised at the relief I saw in her eyes.  It was an interesting interaction, especially since she couldn’t have been more than 13 or 14.  From then on I immediately explained the thought process and after a few years it was a bit easier with the change in terminology.

As with most Christian PO’s I have been asked how I deal with the potential of taking another life.  I had given it a lot of thought before I took up the profession.

Now, some well-meaning Christians said, “Art, the actual term is murder, though shalt not commit murder” which is not the same thing.  While that may sound good the end result is the same, a Christian has taken a human life.

My answer, which at least satisfied me, was that if the time arrives and I must fire my weapon, I will do it with all the training and skill I have and I trust God to direct the bullets and take care of the results.

It is a simplistic answer, and, fortunately, I never had to test it.  But I truly believe that God will indeed help a Christian PO in fulfilling his duties, no matter what they are and how they must be done.

Like many Christian PO’s, being a cop was my calling from God and my ministry to those I served.  I was able to use my relationship with God to help me with my many contacts with the citizens, giving talks, incidental contacts in passing, victims of crimes and suspects, and many times I was able to share my testimony with them.

Yes, Christians CAN be Law Enforcement Officers – and while we are not perfect and we do make mistakes it doesn’t detract from the fact that we serve God and man in the process.

Later, Art (-: