I go to CrossFit 137 in Waterville with many law enforcement officers. Law enforcement officers are no different than other people. The only thing is they put their life on the line every day for us! They could get a call at any point and there could be somebody with a gun. At that point they would be at risk of getting shot, but they would have to assess the situation. They do this just to help keep us safe.

That to me is super important. My last article I wrote with my Pepere, we wrote about heroes who are firefighters. This article will be about law enforcement. Members at CrossFit 137 who are law enforcement officers are Tyler, Kyle, Eric, Jeremy, Caleb, Casey and GJ.

I interviewed two adults for my law enforcement project: Sgt. Eric Bronson with 18 years of service and former Waterville police Chief Joe Massey.

Eric went to Lawrence High School, and Kennebec Valley Community College, then to the Maine Criminal Justice Academy for 18 weeks.

Joe went to Waterville public schools, University of Maine at Augusta, and got a master’s degree at Thomas College. He went to the Maine Criminal Justice Academy for 18 weeks. He has 45 years of police service in central Maine.

Law enforcement job functions include protecting property and citizen’s lives, investigating crimes, and being a first responder to accidents. Officers patrol the community or state highways, investigate domestic violence incidents, and answer service calls. They watch out for people operating under the influence of any and all drugs, perform traffic control, and investigate burglaries. With each function, they create thorough, detailed reports for potential use in the judicial system.

Eric and Joe separately communicated to me the skills necessary to be a professional and proficient law enforcement officer. Firearms skills and communication, the ability to identify the different personalities of the people at the scene, first responder skills, emergency driving skills, report writing, computer efficiency, act/react at the scene, treating others with respect, critical thinking under duress, problem solving, reading body language, mental fortitude, and the toughness necessary to perform accurately are all part of the job. These actions just mentioned will help minimize the use of force on people. It will also help the public to perceive you as someone who wants to help you, not hurt you.

Lastly, officers should be keeping themselves in good physical shape, which helps them with their mental health as well.

Officers shared with me some of the equipment used. There are cameras, digital data access, radios, rifles, computers, many sets of handcuffs, guns, riot gear, bulletproof vest and pants, taser, sprays, flashlights, spike mats, first aid kits, and class a, b, c, d uniforms to wear, depending on the situation.

The difference between police officers and state troopers is the location where they work and their funding sources. State troopers could be working in three counties while a police officer works in one county, or one community. The state trooper has a wider jurisdiction. The vehicles they use belong to the troopers, while the police officers leave their police vehicle at the station. Troopers have many specialty groups offered to them: a bomb team, dive team, K9 team, evidence response team, drug recognition experts, certified firearms, crisis negotiation team, executive protection and more.

I asked them: “What is winning in law enforcement?”

They stated maintaining professionalism in your work every day, having confidence, and building trust, to create a community with a positive perception of what law enforcement is to them. Winning is creating community projects to help citizens, like Waterville’s “Operation Hope” a 24/7 treatment program.

Law enforcement has had to transition to the modern world. They now work with mental health groups and have added a representative from the mental health group to travel with the law enforcement officers in their vehicles as they go to a scene. Mental health workers and police officers are trying to help with understanding the situation to get a more safer result. Law enforcement do not just engage and recognize; they are looking to evaluate personal issues like mental health, folks who are homeless, drug abuse, and domestic situations. These have made policing more challenging as they grow to have more empathy for people, not just enforcing the laws.

Joe and Eric said complexities of current life, with so many mental health problems, has challenged the professional police world. Many television shows reflect in a negative way on law enforcement, and social media is full of negative remarks. Both are influencing and creating negative attitudes in the public about police.

I think they should realize law enforcement are humans too and are entitled to make mistakes. Like other professions maybe 10%-15% of individuals working on law enforcement are not representing policing the correct way.

I think the work of most all police officers and troopers require a “special” kind of person. Law enforcement officials are heroes every day.  They should be treated that way all the time. They are special to me as they work to make our community a better place. What they do and accomplish has earned my respect and trust.

The law enforcement profession protects Americans and American’s rights. Enforcing the laws creates a civil society; otherwise our freedom-based society would be a barbaric society. A society where murder, stealing, lying, cheating, bullying, etc., would be done without accountability. No one would be stopping the evil wrongdoing in our communities.  I would rather live in a free society.

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