Why did you become a cop?

Throughout my career, people ask me, “What made you decide to become a police officer?” If time permits, I try to tell them the long version. But if not, I give them the short story which is that God drew me to this profession. It had to be him because growing up I never wanted to be a cop.

The long answer is as follows: While growing up, my primary aspiration was to make something of myself as a repayment to my grandparents and my mother who sacrificed so much to ensure that my sister and I had what we needed while growing up. God used this career to do just that. Not only did he allow this career to provide for me, he used this career to show me how strong I was and allowed me to share my own stories of tribulation and triumph with those I came in contact and vice versa.

My second aspiration was to defy the negative statistics that one my teachers spouted off in a class about how minorities graduated from high school at a substantially lower rate than our white counterparts. He didn’t provide any reason or data behind the statistics, he just made it seem like that’s the way it was. I knew that wasn’t the way it was going to be for me and so I did what I had to do to graduate. Those words always stuck with me, therefore after becoming an officer I made sure to speak life into the lives of those I interacted with, some who may have heard those same or other negative statistics, about their race, where they lived or something else.

Your story and your voice is important as well, so tell me, why did you become a cop?