Chicago Police officer, Vietnam Vet tells why he serves

A cop's life: Police blotter

BY MICHAEL SNEED Sun-Times Columnist
The hero file: Sneed's Friday column on the life of a cop netted the following letter from a Chicago Police officer that's worth sharing. The column was written in response to the killing Wednesday of Officer Thor Soderberg on the South Side. Here's the letter:

I am a Chicago police officer about to hit 20 years next month and also a Vietnam veteran, which often times seemed to be the same thing while on the job.


All of those things you mentioned were more than true . . . but I wanted to add just a few things. When we get up in the morning and put the uniform on, we don't plan to encounter trouble, we don't plan to run for blocks through gangways and streets in the dark after offenders. We don't plan on being told by a victim they don't want an offender arrested while holding their hand over a swollen eye, and we don't plan on having to stare down the barrel of our gun at someone who is staring down theirs.

We do what we did yesterday and today and will do tomorrow even in the light of another officer being murdered. We put on the uniform, go to roll call and into the street to serve and protect. We will think of Soderberg and other officers who have passed on but won't lose our focus because we still have to serve and protect.
read more here
Police blotter