24 hour protection?

'When are you intending to get off?'
'In about ten minutes.'
'Got a date?'
'Sort of, if I don't get to the flower shop soon and get some for my darling, you'll be doing scene preservation at the scene of my murder.'
'Good luck with that, but why the urgency?'
'She hates it when I don't tell her about what I do, you know, on duty.'
'Are you dead?'
'No.'
'Well tell her to be grateful for that.'
'I think i'll stick with flowers sir.'

Once a long time ago, as you made your way to a situation that didn't sound too friendly, the very large, unshaven, seasoned Officer gave you some advice. He said that you should come in to the station, do whatever is asked of you, for however many hours you are prepared to do, put in your expenses claims on time, never let your feelings show, and never tell anyone about what you see, what you feel, or what you do, unless it's a funny story, which in that case, he said, 'tell all'.

Recently you read this article, and you thought to yourself, how do Police Officers, both Special and Regular, deal with what they see, with the abuse they take, with what they have to endure, with the stress the job brings, with the constant threat that one day they may be on the other side of the line?

There are times when being in the Police is fun, times when it is hard, times when there is laughter, times when there are tears. Some may bottle it all up, keep it all inside, others may let it out, turn angry, lose what is left of there faith, some may make jokes, turn to humour to preserve what they hold dear, others, like yourself, may not be affected by it at all.

You have not seen war, nor witnessed the worst of humanity, and for that you thank God.

'We who have seen war, will never stop seeing it. In the silence of the night, we will always hear the screams. So this is our story, for we were soldiers once, and young.'

Joseph Galloway, We Were Soldiers.