Why I Resigned From Law-Enforcement

Even a cop needs people to look after them.

Photo by Phil Hearing on Unsplash

I promised myself I would leave the week before Christmas

…the 18th of December; the day I’d complete thirty-years’ service.

I’d worked more Christmas days than I’d care to count.

I’d patrolled the streets on winter nights, fingers numb from the cold. I’d trudged my way through the snow on many a New Year’s Eve, missing the celebrations with family and friends.

It was time to hang up my boots and go have some fun.

But when the time came…

I just couldn’t think of anything else I wanted to do, it was like I had unfinished business. Justice doesn’t serve itself, I was still bound to the promise to do my duty. It seemed crazy to put on my uniform and leave the warmth of my home when I didn’t have to — but I did.

I missed Christmas dinner, again. Then I worked a bitterly cold New Year’s Eve when I could have been tucked up in bed. I strapped up my boots and went back out on patrol into a manic night; streets spilling with drunks and the inevitable alcohol-fuelled fights.

Another call came in.