Public Safety Never Rests
Was home sick today all day, didn't go anywhere or do anything due to the Cold bug.
Yet I was dispatched up theRoad after 2000 hrs to help someone else.
Was it a DV call?, another Assault?, perhaps another Vehicle In Ditch?, maybe some Villager had a Blonde moment and locked their keys in the car again. Who knows.
I got to my destination in record time and without seeing any Moose by roadside at all. In fact I doubt that I did see any Moose at all due to the fact that when speeding to a Call,
I really see nothing else but the road ahead of me and feel nothing but the road beneath my Left foot (the brake pedal) and theVehicle beneath my Right foot (the gas pedal).
With my feet I see what's under me and how the engine is doing at the time. I can also spin plates on my nose and juggle village issues like no other.
It's a learned process, takes experience to juggle tasks and keep on the road and stay in theVillage-at high speeds.
I saw whom I needed to see and everyone was Happy to see me.
Then I brought back whom I needed to bring back to theVillage and let them loose-It's Christmas. I give people a break sometime with a stern warning.
As I returned though, I drove a little slower and could see the entire snow covered road before me in the hi-beams headlight.
Wow, 3" at least of Ice on the highway and did I fly around those turns so fast? I looked out into theVoid.
The Nothingness of space that was a gully or steep ravine padded by 40' tall snow covered trees. Fly off the road and no one will ever find you till Spring thaw around here.
It's theAfter action time that let's you reflect on previous events.
So I turned my time to thinking of where I stand within Alaska Public Safety.
I'm just a simple Officer, I serve theVillage and am responsible for over 200+ peoples lives, about 100 dwellings, several hundred Sled dogs and 8 cats. I leave the Goldfish alone, let others feed them at the village schools.
Over the years I've tried to hook up with larger Agencies around theState. The state troops, the Police of the 3 larger cities and also 4 police of smaller towns to no avail.
I don't mind my station in life with what I do, but I could use a change of scenery and get around more Officers like me.
You all speak of problems endemic to Indian country.
Often you blame the white man. And it is true, that for the last few hundred years we have been subjected to oppression from the dominant white culture.
But there will come a time, as happened before in the past with most dominant cultures, that the Oppressed will break free and rebel, if you will.
In my little Universe here that is theVillage and to all Patrol points I am in charge. No one else is. though I am mister mellow and mr friendly and go out of the way a lot for people you wouldn't know my inward outlook on Your public safety and well being to look at me in my simple brown uniform. Heck, my duty belt hangs around my truck seat and my weapons are safely tucked away out of sight.
But it's true. I am in charge and only when SHTF really.Yet, there are times that some disputes here and there get handled without us Officers knowing until long after the fact. LOL, I can handle that. Such is life. Live and let live.
Vegas isn't the only place in the world with secrets.
I could take all that I see and feel and do and put a racist twist on that. I probably do it anyway without thinking.
But I wonder how the white Officers feel when they see the Native population acting the criminal way they do.
And I often wonder what the white Officers think when they see the Native Officers do what they do.
I already know the answers though. And it's scary.
I've tried for these last years to join up with other agencies.
I guess I should listen to what Life says and be happy where I am.
Perhaps I should take some advanced training and put a new spin on what I do. NO nO no... I'm not going to break out the climbing gear, pitons, ropes, sturdy chukkas and my ironing board and laundry like those IRONISTS do.
The white people are truly drunk with power.
White privilege is vogue and those govt sponsored programs are really meant to keep the masses down. That means you and me.
In the last few years theState Regional Safety Officer program went to ssht because of funding cuts and set backs in the program.
One Occifer "got lost" in theVillage and played around with another woman and his wife left him. Soon afterwards, he too left his region of the state.
Another Regional Occifer got a call from Uncle Sam and is probably still over seas in Iraq. The other 3, the last holdouts of this new experimental program got quietly absorbed by the state troops and now everybody wears Blue, when these regional occifers wore a different uniform at one time.
I get my kicks too sometimes by what power I have over others but I don't play with peoples heads or emotions either.
If gramma needs some help in winter or summer and a Village offender "offends", Granma gets help for a few days. I at least use peer pressure to help someone else.
Thus I walk away with a clean conscience knowing that an offender was put to good use. Many of you here might and might not agree.
Part of the DARE curriculum starts with identifying authority figures. Some lesson plans say to have the Kids all stand up and reach HIGH for the ceiling!
Or stand up individually and tell the Occifer (me) your names and ages.
Then after all is said and done I point out the object lesson.
State to the kids what they did and ask them Why?
Why did you do what you did? Many answers reflect the same train of thought.
"that you asked",
"That you're an Officer and have authority over us and your request was reasonable"
etc.
So I ask you dindinzz...Why?
Why do you do what you do with your own tribal govt's?
Why do you let yourselves and families get treated the way you do?
The DARE lessons point out that we each decide who the authority figure is day to day, whom to be friends with and whom to listen to.
And the bottom line of why we obey is respect.
That's it.
Respect.
We explore the other end of the spectrum too, or at least I did when instructing DARE classes. Fear is also a reason to obey.
I never wanted my constituents, my Villagers, my People to fear me unjustly. I don't mind the crackheads, thePotheads, theMetalheads and SexOffenders feeling fear around me.
they've all crossed that line long ago when dealing with Other humans and it will take many lifetimes for them to earn respect from me.
But I want my villagers to respect me.
And for the Most part they do. I am loved and wanted.
I am needed here.
I am happy. But this long drive that I did tonight got me to thinking about the root reason why we do things.
What motivates me to strap on armor and weapons and read, skim and study and re-study various law books and medical books.
What motivates me to practice with trusted Villagers the arts of killing another human being? What motivates me to sling lead down range at targets and what drives me to carefully study everyone I meet each day?
It is part respect, part fear, part admiration, part love.
Dedication has nothing to do with it, dedication is what I DO or practice in order to do this job.
I don't see a change in the near future for Alaska law enforcement at all. It's mostly white people in uniform. Taking 3-5K a month to work 8hrs a day and grousing about Overtime and Holiday hours.
We need good dedicated Occifers that will willingly get up anytime day or night and drive hundreds of miles to answer a call or to help out another agency.
Whether it's Indian country or white bread america, we need to see whom and what we respect and respond accordingly.
It's not good enough to be articulate and steadfast with Military bearing anymore. It's not good enough for me to stand before the public with the last few years of Great work under my belt.
It's not enough to be here in a position of trust and heavy responsibility Earned from my previous CLEAN life and good choices I made and to ask a Villager or a white person to do something and to see them do it.
There's something more, something else I'm not getting I guess.
Well time to sleep. Time to rest and get this flu bug out of my system before I get called again up or down the road.
Yet I was dispatched up theRoad after 2000 hrs to help someone else.
Was it a DV call?, another Assault?, perhaps another Vehicle In Ditch?, maybe some Villager had a Blonde moment and locked their keys in the car again. Who knows.
I got to my destination in record time and without seeing any Moose by roadside at all. In fact I doubt that I did see any Moose at all due to the fact that when speeding to a Call,
I really see nothing else but the road ahead of me and feel nothing but the road beneath my Left foot (the brake pedal) and theVehicle beneath my Right foot (the gas pedal).
With my feet I see what's under me and how the engine is doing at the time. I can also spin plates on my nose and juggle village issues like no other.
It's a learned process, takes experience to juggle tasks and keep on the road and stay in theVillage-at high speeds.
I saw whom I needed to see and everyone was Happy to see me.
Then I brought back whom I needed to bring back to theVillage and let them loose-It's Christmas. I give people a break sometime with a stern warning.
As I returned though, I drove a little slower and could see the entire snow covered road before me in the hi-beams headlight.
Wow, 3" at least of Ice on the highway and did I fly around those turns so fast? I looked out into theVoid.
The Nothingness of space that was a gully or steep ravine padded by 40' tall snow covered trees. Fly off the road and no one will ever find you till Spring thaw around here.
It's theAfter action time that let's you reflect on previous events.
So I turned my time to thinking of where I stand within Alaska Public Safety.
I'm just a simple Officer, I serve theVillage and am responsible for over 200+ peoples lives, about 100 dwellings, several hundred Sled dogs and 8 cats. I leave the Goldfish alone, let others feed them at the village schools.
Over the years I've tried to hook up with larger Agencies around theState. The state troops, the Police of the 3 larger cities and also 4 police of smaller towns to no avail.
I don't mind my station in life with what I do, but I could use a change of scenery and get around more Officers like me.
You all speak of problems endemic to Indian country.
Often you blame the white man. And it is true, that for the last few hundred years we have been subjected to oppression from the dominant white culture.
But there will come a time, as happened before in the past with most dominant cultures, that the Oppressed will break free and rebel, if you will.
In my little Universe here that is theVillage and to all Patrol points I am in charge. No one else is. though I am mister mellow and mr friendly and go out of the way a lot for people you wouldn't know my inward outlook on Your public safety and well being to look at me in my simple brown uniform. Heck, my duty belt hangs around my truck seat and my weapons are safely tucked away out of sight.
But it's true. I am in charge and only when SHTF really.Yet, there are times that some disputes here and there get handled without us Officers knowing until long after the fact. LOL, I can handle that. Such is life. Live and let live.
Vegas isn't the only place in the world with secrets.
I could take all that I see and feel and do and put a racist twist on that. I probably do it anyway without thinking.
But I wonder how the white Officers feel when they see the Native population acting the criminal way they do.
And I often wonder what the white Officers think when they see the Native Officers do what they do.
I already know the answers though. And it's scary.
I've tried for these last years to join up with other agencies.
I guess I should listen to what Life says and be happy where I am.
Perhaps I should take some advanced training and put a new spin on what I do. NO nO no... I'm not going to break out the climbing gear, pitons, ropes, sturdy chukkas and my ironing board and laundry like those IRONISTS do.
The white people are truly drunk with power.
White privilege is vogue and those govt sponsored programs are really meant to keep the masses down. That means you and me.
In the last few years theState Regional Safety Officer program went to ssht because of funding cuts and set backs in the program.
One Occifer "got lost" in theVillage and played around with another woman and his wife left him. Soon afterwards, he too left his region of the state.
Another Regional Occifer got a call from Uncle Sam and is probably still over seas in Iraq. The other 3, the last holdouts of this new experimental program got quietly absorbed by the state troops and now everybody wears Blue, when these regional occifers wore a different uniform at one time.
I get my kicks too sometimes by what power I have over others but I don't play with peoples heads or emotions either.
If gramma needs some help in winter or summer and a Village offender "offends", Granma gets help for a few days. I at least use peer pressure to help someone else.
Thus I walk away with a clean conscience knowing that an offender was put to good use. Many of you here might and might not agree.
Part of the DARE curriculum starts with identifying authority figures. Some lesson plans say to have the Kids all stand up and reach HIGH for the ceiling!
Or stand up individually and tell the Occifer (me) your names and ages.
Then after all is said and done I point out the object lesson.
State to the kids what they did and ask them Why?
Why did you do what you did? Many answers reflect the same train of thought.
"that you asked",
"That you're an Officer and have authority over us and your request was reasonable"
etc.
So I ask you dindinzz...Why?
Why do you do what you do with your own tribal govt's?
Why do you let yourselves and families get treated the way you do?
The DARE lessons point out that we each decide who the authority figure is day to day, whom to be friends with and whom to listen to.
And the bottom line of why we obey is respect.
That's it.
Respect.
We explore the other end of the spectrum too, or at least I did when instructing DARE classes. Fear is also a reason to obey.
I never wanted my constituents, my Villagers, my People to fear me unjustly. I don't mind the crackheads, thePotheads, theMetalheads and SexOffenders feeling fear around me.
they've all crossed that line long ago when dealing with Other humans and it will take many lifetimes for them to earn respect from me.
But I want my villagers to respect me.
And for the Most part they do. I am loved and wanted.
I am needed here.
I am happy. But this long drive that I did tonight got me to thinking about the root reason why we do things.
What motivates me to strap on armor and weapons and read, skim and study and re-study various law books and medical books.
What motivates me to practice with trusted Villagers the arts of killing another human being? What motivates me to sling lead down range at targets and what drives me to carefully study everyone I meet each day?
It is part respect, part fear, part admiration, part love.
Dedication has nothing to do with it, dedication is what I DO or practice in order to do this job.
I don't see a change in the near future for Alaska law enforcement at all. It's mostly white people in uniform. Taking 3-5K a month to work 8hrs a day and grousing about Overtime and Holiday hours.
We need good dedicated Occifers that will willingly get up anytime day or night and drive hundreds of miles to answer a call or to help out another agency.
Whether it's Indian country or white bread america, we need to see whom and what we respect and respond accordingly.
It's not good enough to be articulate and steadfast with Military bearing anymore. It's not good enough for me to stand before the public with the last few years of Great work under my belt.
It's not enough to be here in a position of trust and heavy responsibility Earned from my previous CLEAN life and good choices I made and to ask a Villager or a white person to do something and to see them do it.
There's something more, something else I'm not getting I guess.
Well time to sleep. Time to rest and get this flu bug out of my system before I get called again up or down the road.
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