PAX Centurion - Winter 2016 - 2017

www.bppa.org PAX CENTURION • Winter 2016-2017 • Page 9 Secretary’s Thoughts: Christopher J. Broderick, BPPA Secretary Where does the time go? I realize it is an old cliché but where does the time go?Another year has passed us by. Some of the days seemed to never end but by the time you look up weeks and months have flown by like cars on a highway. I guess it is a good time to look back and reflect and remember what kind of year it has been. For those of us in the profession of policing it has been a tough year. There have been over 130 Line-of-Duty deaths. Multiple unprovoked attacks on women and men who selflessly put on the uniform every day. Horrific incidents that have put officers in situations where they have been forced to make life and death decisions only to be judged by people ignorant to the facts and all too often villainized by some media outlets to make it a better story. It is somewhat baffling to think that every day well over 800,000 sworn law enforcement in this country continue to put on that uniform and risk any of this (and a whole lot more) but we do. I’m sure there are plenty of our retired sisters and brothers that would love to still be putting on the uniform and there are a number of young people waiting for their opportunity to have that chance. It is both interesting and concerning to see that the numbers of those who want to do this job are decreasing both nationally and locally. Maybe it is generational, but more likely it is that this group is a bit wiser than we were. They are actually thinking about what they are getting themselves into and aren’t quite sure it is worth it. I suppose time will tell us the answer to that question. One of the strangest things about this job is that based on all of the aforementioned problems, as well as everything else that goes on with being a cop, why do we keep doing it? I would estimate that it takes about five years on the job for the first time we declare that this job is ruined, dead and buried. I’m pretty sure every five years or so after that there is a declaration that it is even worse. At some point in one’s career the phrase “back when I got on the job” is used to start a story about how bad it has gotten (some would say some use it a little too early in said career). The amazing thing may be that we all keep coming back. Whether it is here in Boston, NewYork City or some three-man sheriff’s department in an unincorporated landmass in Utah, we all keep coming to work. As mentioned before, though the “applicant” numbers are dropping there are still men in women that strive to take this job as their profession. As Winston Churchill said in part “It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.” Though the Prime Minister was speaking of Russia in the early days of WWII, he certainly could have been speaking of why those of us do this job every day. Maybe it is a simple answer. Maybe this is what we are supposed to do. Maybe it is a calling to a vocation for many of us. Maybe some of us did it because it is a “family” job or we followed someone we respected into the profession. I am sure for a few of us it is because we couldn’t get on the Fire Department. I’m confident it may have been all three for others. Regardless we keep coming back for more. In all honesty I think it’s because of the fraternal feeling that shows itself at times. Over the course of the last year we have had some tough days. When those tough days came girls and guys came together. At the end of the day it is then that we probably look around and realize that these things don’t happen in a “normal” job. When we need help we all know that there are those 800,000 plus that will pull together in some form or fashion and support you in some way. So as we round third base on this holiday season and reflect on the year past go ahead and pat yourself on the back, take some pride in the fact that you are part of less than .003 percent of the 325 million people in this country that willingly continue to do this job every day in spite of the job. Merry Christmas and here is to looking forward to another year of the job dying (but I know we will all be back in 2018 if they will let us). The BPPA helped out with their support, bringing their food truck to Massapequa, New York as they paid respect to NYPD Sgt. Paul Tuozzolo, who was struck down in the line-of-duty. See more photos and story on pages 18 & 19.