We Are Going to be OK

I recently attended the Award Ceremony at my former agency that I had left three years ago after spending 34 years there.  Old acquaintances and friendships were renewed quickly and, looking around the auditorium, I realized how many new, young officers there were.  There is always the idea that your generation knows and has experienced more than the ones that followed you and it is super easy to think that they will never be as good.  This is human nature.  As I sat there and listened to the citation readings for the awards, I heard act after act of selfless heroism and service to the community from these officers.  Some were long tenured veterans, but many were officers at the beginning of their careers.  As I reflected on this, it struck me that nothing had changed, they were us twenty or thirty years ago.  They are as good, if not better, than we were.  I took heart in the fact that even though it is harder to recruit and fill officer openings currently, the people that are joining the profession are exceptional.  With this, I realized that, as a profession, we in law enforcement are going to be ok.  This next generation is answering the call.