BROKENNESS... AND A FUTURE!

This has been a week of experiences... causing me to look back over a life time of
experiences both private and professional.

I have witnessed brokenness in many forms... broken toys... broken vehicles...
broken marriages... broken bodies... broken careers... broken people...
broken dreams... personal brokenness.  When the product you deal with through out
all of your professional career is people in crisis... you see much of the things I have
listed... sometimes far too much.   When you live long enough to retire and have
always dealt with people you can be drawn to the work of fixing or mending broken
lives (by the help of the Commander-in-Chief), broken situations and broken things.

Numerous experiences in just this week alone have revealed things, people and
lives experiencing brokenness and in need of mending or healing... Then the
morning paper is filled with photos of broken military transport vehicles that have
been broken in attacks in Iraq... vehicles broken along with their contents and their
passengers.  What details were not visible in the photos were described in the
text...  My heart, my spirit, wept because I experienced the pain and loss that these
photos represented.  Military personnel doing a job they volunteered to do... vital
and alive one moment... critically wounded or literally just gone in another  moment.

Crisis is very, very difficult for the ones who are experiencing it... for the ones who
must come to help because of it... and for the loved ones who must deal with the
aftermath in their own lives and the lives of those who experienced the crisis.  I am
aware of a great argument going on about the true casualty rate in the war in Iraq...
Numbers are important only as a measuring tool and for argument's sake.  How
many others are in crisis becomes of little consequence when you personally are in
a crisis of your own involving yourself or someone you love dearly.  Seldom can any
of us survive a crisis well without the help of some one else giving some kind of help
and support to us to relieve our load and assist in recovery.

Broken toys can be mended or replaced.  Broken vehicles can be mended or
replaced.  Broken situations or plans can be reworked or planned again.  Broken
marriages can be healed or in the worst case dissolved in divorce... Ah, but this
process now becomes more difficult than repairing broken things... Now people
are involved... along with attitudes, emotions and feelings.  This is not a matter of
a new or restored part mechanically speaking.  If we can keep the people involved
intact without breaking them the greatest need will be education and adjustment...
Learning what caused the broken relationship and how or can it be repaired?

Then we must take into account broken people... or people with a defect that
hinders their abilities to comprehend and cope... to learn and adjust.  Things take
tools, materials and/or parts.  People take time, patience and perseverance.  Often
it is here that the Peace Keeper becomes involved.  If it is a domestic problem it falls
to law enforcement when it becomes so broken as to cause a screaming match or a
physical match. 

If it is a nation where greed and despotism are the causes of the brokenness it is
usually some form of the military that must get involved after national leaders make
a decision to go to war... or if a nation is attacked it is first the local Peace Keepers
and then the military for either backup or all out defense.  Still the product here is
people and people take time, patience and perseverance... unless you are being
threatened with a weapon or being shot at... then it takes quick action first... then we
can take time, have patience... and persevere including talking... if the opposition is
still  able to talk and learn.

After the experience of the broken vehicles I watched two law enforcement officers
being shot by people in traffic stops.  Too much talking took place and two officers
died.  Talking after the person comes out with a gun in hand and refuses to obey
verbal orders is no longer useful... at that point it is deadly to try talking.  The only
action useful then is shooting, seeking covering protection... running away... and
sometimes all of the above.  It did not take me long to learn that you have to treat
people the way their actions demand that they be treated... or sooner or later you
will not survive the encounter. 

I developed the attitude of being alert, watchful, suspicious and wary very early in
my career.  Few complaints were ever made on my enforcement conduct because
they always knew where I stood and what I expected either by my verbal
instructions or by my personal actions or both.  In enforcing the law in all of my
career I never had to injure nor kill anyone... and I have received minor scratches
only twice... but it is an attitude that must be learned and practiced.

Watching those two officers being shot down and seeing two others last week...
plus reporting on all of the law enforcement deaths keeps me keyed to this attitude
of professionalism and survival in Peace Keeping.  Viewing the videos of the
shootings and all of those gutted transportation vehicles makes me ever more
keenly aware of the cost being paid and the ensuing tragedy that follows... the
tragedy of altered lives and crisis for the injured survivors of the attacks...  and the
crisis in the lives of the loved ones of those who did not survive these attacks.

Some of the costs this week;
================================================================
VIRGINIAN-PILOT, NORFOLK, VA., 12/10/05
IRAQ, WEEK OF 12/3-12/9/05
U.S. TROOPS KILLED - 8
U.S. TROOPS WOUNDED - 74
U.S. TROOPS KILLED SINCE 03/03 - 2137
U.S. TROOPS WOUNDED SINCE 03/03 - 15,955
================================================================
PoliceOne.com

Officer Down
TX.: Brazoria deputy killed directing traffic - 12/09/2005
Jason Alexander Oliff - [Houston, Texas]
N.Y. Deputy killed in head-on crash - 12/04/2005
Galen Herren - [Monroe County, New York]

PoliceOne Safety Tip:

Be ready to act immediately
by Managing Editor Scott Buhrmaster and In the Line of Duty
Perhaps the most important point to keep in mind while viewing this video
clip from In the Line of Duty's Vol. 7, Program 2, "Murder of a Georgia
Deputy," is to be prepared to take immediate and decisive action when faced
with a threat, particularly if the threat is clearly deadly ... Full Story

PoliceOne Safety Tip:

Traffic stop safety tip
Submitted by: Sgt. Benjamin Gatto with the Military Police Q9 (CO)
When exiting your vehicle on a traffic stop, do not ... Full Story

PoliceOne Safety Tip:

Making cuff escapes virtually impossible
Submitted by: Deputy Mike Marchman, Cobb County (GA) SO It seems that we hear a
new warning about hidden cuff keys every week. There are several things you can
do to make it virtually impossible for a suspect to take off their handcuffs ...
Full Story
==============================================================
Waterborne@aol.com
Texas: A Dallas police officer was in stable condition Sunday after being shot
multiple times during an undercover investigation.
http://www.kwtx.com/home/headlines/2054532.html

Mississippi: Anatomy of a police officer’s shooting. http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051204/NEWS01/512040306/1002

Ohio: A Cincinnati police officer was injured Friday night after a man opened fire on
the officer’s unmarked car.
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051202/NEWS01/312020028

Texas: A Denton County sheriff’s deputy and a student intern were injured late
Friday when their Crown Victoria patrol car was rear-ended and the gas tank
exploded into flames, authorities said.
http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/news/state/13264456.htm

For those of you who want the outcome of the Schertz, TX police car
that was shot up I am forwarding the original story with video:

Texas: Watch the Video: Bullets Fly During "Routine" Traffic Stop http://www.woai.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=B1767340-2ACB-4169-BF61-9BCA477D3C13

Kentucky: In a matter of minutes, sheriff's Deputy Andy McDowell was forced to
live a parent's worst nightmare – twice. He lost two sons in separate traffic accidents. http://www.sptimes.com/2005/12/09/Worldandnation/2_sons_lost__minutes_.shtml

Texas: (video) Trooper Vetter Shooting . This is a hard one to watch. I had not seen
this one before. http://www.patrolrifle.com/video.php?media=EDEDD0BD-BFAD-0B4E-BCC0C

Indiana: Deputy wounded in bank robbery shootout. http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051207/NEWS01/51207015

California: Third officer memorial vandalized. Sign honoring officer chopped down. http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/13351781.htm

===============================================================
Now the future... Last evening I was privileged to do the invocation and benediction
for a Police Youth Academy graduation.  As I looked into those young faces I
realized that I was looking into the face of our future.  They are so young, exuberant
and enthusiastic about the things that they had just learned about the functions of our
police department and some were actually looking forward to becoming Peace
Keepers in law enforcement when they become old enough.  These ceremonies are
among some of the joyful duties I get to perform for the police department as a
chaplain.  I greatly enjoyed talking with the youth and their parents afterward.

Many of you who read these words in this message today are our future also. 
Young, full of vitality and looking for life and adventure.  Many of you also are daily in
situations like the ones described above... on patrol here at home or on one of the
foreign fields of danger.  My prayers are for your success and your survival so that
you may find the fullness of life for which you are destined.  The nation needs you. 
The old ones who are going out the end of their careers must be replaced by you. 
Our exploits are over.  We have done all the Peace Keeping we are allowed to do. 
We look forward to the things that you will take over from us and carry forth.  With
your youth, vitality and exuberance you will be a large part of determining the
course for the future of your communities and the nation.  I look forward with great
anticipation to where you will lead us.

The only caution I must present is that the future comes one day at a time...
planning is great but it must be flexible... and the future when it comes will always
be today... for today is all that we ever really have.  Each day is a gift called the
present... it is given to us to spend for ourselves and our posterity.  When we do it
well and right  the whole of our nation and all of its people will be edified and built
up. 

Love, joy, peace and prosperity are the blessings that are ahead of you.  These
things are ahead because you are each paying part of the price for it now with your
lives and your work accomplished.  You are securing it for yourselves, the ones you
love and for all of our peaceful citizens of the nation and the world.  You are also
securing justice for the ones who choose not to cooperate.  Each of you are vital to
the process.  Whether you are a deputy in some rural area, a trooper who works in
all levels of law enforcement, a municipal officer working urban or suburban areas...
or ranger... or marshals... whether you are local, state or federal level law
enforcement...  Whether you are involved in the care and keeping of those
incarcerated for violations of the law... or whether you are military standing watch or
fighting some enemy... Whether you are in the courts system...  or whether you are
in one of the support systems that helps and allows the field personnel to get their
jobs done... Whether you are in that comparatively new area of private security and
guarding that which no one else can or will guard... EACH OF YOU AND ALL OF
YOU ARE VITALLY IMPORTANT TO OUR WAY OF LIFE... AND WE CANNOT
SURVIVE AS WE KNOW IT NOW OR IN THE FUTURE UNLESS PEOPLE
LIKE YOU ARE CONSTANTLY TAKING THEIR PLACE AND FUNCTIONING
IN THAT PLACE TO THE VERY BEST OF WHICH THEY AND YOU ARE
CAPABLE.

Ahhh... how it excites me to think on you and what you are doing.  It gives me the
chance to remember, reflect and enjoy my adventures again and again.  Peace
Keepers, I do greatly love and appreciate you.  Thank you for being in your place.

My self and my fellow chaplains are dedicated to doing all that we can with and for
you.  If you have a need that we can try to meet please let us know.  Thank you
Chaplains for being there for this precious purpose of caring for Peace Keepers.

"BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!"  Be alert... watchful... and suspicious.  Be wary...
cunning like the fox.  Take great care of you as best you can... including the
spiritual welfare of you.  If you neglect your spiritual welfare you will one day suffer
for it.  I searched for twenty years for the answers that would work for me.  I am so
glad that I did.  If you take care of this part of your life and get it working and/or
keep it working for you I know that you will be so glad that you did.

As it has always been... so it still is...

"VICTORIOUS WARRIORS WIN FIRST...
AND THEN GO TO WAR,
WHILE DEFEATED WARRIORS GO TO WAR FIRST...
AND THEN SEEK TO WIN."  Sun tzu

ONLY LIVE PEACE KEEPERS SEE THE VICTORY!!!
THEY SEE IT ONLY BECAUSE OTHERS HAVE MADE THEIR ETERNAL
PAYMENTS OF SWEAT, BLOOD, TEARS AND LIFE FOR THAT VICTORY!

WITH THE DEEPEST OF APPRECIATION AND RESPECT...
BE BLESSED (A CONDITION TO BE ENVIED)...
BE SUCCESSFUL... BE SAFE...
My injunction to be safe means doing all you know to do as you do your job... it means
doing the best you can with what you have where you are using all your faculties to get
the job done well and with good results conquering evil and keeping or restoring peace...
it does not mean to avoid duty and honor... it does not mean to cower or allow anything
to hinder you in the process of duty according to rules, law and ethics...  it means that if
the demand takes your earthly life you destroy as much evil as possible in the process. 
That is my definition of being safe... doing the best you can and leaving the rest to God
or whomever else is responsible... being best employed for the sake and protection of all
the things and people that we hold dear.
Chaplain D. R. Staton (Don - C1) VBPD, VSP ALUMNI,
RETIRED VBPD Officer, Instructor, Senior Chaplain, Director of Chaplains
757-431-2190, chpln1@verizon.net
3709 Beacon Lane, Virginia Beach, VA 23452
=================================================
Copyright: CHAPLAIN CORNER (DRS) 2005. All rights reserved. May not be
duplicated without permission, except to be forwarded with copyright and
all source information for any quotation intact.
 
To subscribe to this free e-mail message for Peace Keepers, 
write to Chaplain D. R. Staton at chpln1@verizon.net or at 
3709 Beacon Lane, Virginia Beach, VA 23452.

If you are a Peace Keeper you may subscribe to the BLACKWATER
TACTICAL NEWSLETTER  by going to the website at BLACKWATER USA