TO AND FOR PEACE KEEPERS OF THE MILITARY AND ALL LAW ENFORCEMENT
   AT ALL LEVELS AND ALL OF THOSE IN THEIR SUPPORT SYSTEMS AND ALL
                         WHO CARE ABOUT THEM AND THEIR WELFARE.

CHAPLAIN CORNER IS DEDICATED TO ALL PEACE KEEPERS, CURRENT AND
RETIRED, THOSE LIVING NOW... AND THOSE WHO HAVE PRECEDED US AND
PASSED ON FROM THIS EARTHLY SCENE.  MY TERM PEACE KEEPER COVERS
 ALL SECURITY, JAIL AND PRISON ATTENDANTS WHATEVER THE TITLE; LAW
  ENFORCEMENT AT ALL LEVELS INCLUDING JUDGES AND PROSECUTORS;                
                            MILITARY IN WHATEVER BRANCH; AND
  THE SUPPORT SYSTEM PERSONNEL FOR ALL CATEGORIES IN WHATEVER
 COUNTRY OF THIS WORLD YOU HAPPEN TO BE.  YOU ARE VITAL TO OUR
 WORLD AND MY COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF AND I CARE GREATLY FOR AND
   ABOUT YOU.  YOU ARE THE MINISTERS OF RIGHTNESS IN THIS WORLD...   
    AND THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT COULD NOT EXIST WITHOUT YOU!!!

IN ADDITION IT IS FOR THE PEACE MAKERS OF THIS WORLD.  SOMETIMES
THESE ARE THE SAME PEOPLE AS PEACE KEEPERS... SOMETIMES THEY ARE
NOT... BUT PEACE MAKERS ARE JUST AS IMPORTANT AND NECESSARY AS
                ARE PEACE KEEPERS NECESSARY AND IMPORTANT.

  PRAYERS ARE SAID DAILY FOR  ALL WHO HAVE REQUESTED MY PRAYERS...
FOR ALL FOR WHOM I HAVE PROMISED TO PRAY... FOR ALL FOR WHOM I HAVE
  BEEN INSTRUCTED TO PRAY... FOR PEACE KEEPERS... FOR FIREFIGHTERS...
FOR EMERGENCY MEDICAL PERSONNEL... DOCTORS... NURSES... TEACHERS... COUNSELORS... AND ALL OF THE FAMILIES AND ALL OF THE LOVED ONES OF
ALL OF THESE PEOPLE... FOR LEADERS OF THE WORLD... LEADERS OF THE
     CHURCH... AND FOR SPECIFIC PEOPLE THAT HAVE SPECIFIC NEEDS...
         PLUS YOU ARE INCLUDED IF YOU ARE READING THIS MATERIAL.
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DUTY

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source du·ty    [doo-tee, dyoo-] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation –noun, plural -ties.
1. something that one is expected or required to do by moral or legal obligation.
2. the binding or obligatory force of something that is morally or legally right; moral or legal obligation.
3. an action or task required by a person's position or occupation; function:

7. Military (Firefighters, EMTs and Law Enforcement: Italics My addition)
a. an assigned task, occupation, or place of service:

Often we are given basic instruction for a task or set of tasks and then we are expected to complete the assigned task without further supervision or instruction,i.e., patrol assignments.

In military and para-military organizations this expectation is a fact of our lives.  That is the way it has always been done so that is the expectation.

The word patrol comes from the French meaning literally to go through puddles... plus added to it in today's expectations... wherever you are assigned or expected to go in the performance of your duties whether by direct command from a superior by voice or written instructions; by the necessity dictated by additional knowledge acquired while on patrol; by additional knowledge or assignments acquired by radio or computer dispatch... It is our job to go and to do whatever the circumstances dictate once we arrive at the location and evaluate.

We may be assigned to do our patrols on foot; by aircraft; by motor vehicle; by bicycle;
by boat; or by some other ingenious methods.  Sometimes the only task assigned is to patrol an assigned area or a specific route.  Sometimes we are assigned to take care of any problems found.  Sometimes we are assigned to look for specific problems and ignore all others.

In all of my years of experience I have learned that my most important tool is right attitude coupled to knowledge and experience... Be keen and sharp - don't relax too soon - but don't be uptight either... My next most important tool is keen observation (listening coupled with intent hearing, seeing, smelling, feeling) supported by any other necessary follow up actions.  Our most important information may come from any one or our faculties or from all of our faculties once we are on the location where we are expected to be.  The next step is to be as safe as you can be but still take the necessary action to correct the situation and restore peace and tranquility.

Personnel on the scene in any situation have taken an oath or contracted to handle what needs to be handled within the parameters of training and expectation.  That is the function of life in our situations.  Complaining, grumbling, mumbling, cursing and other similar comments may help to vent our stress but it must be done in a safe mode or the venting toward the situation and/or the people involved just might make our jobs and expectations more difficult to achieve... Sometimes it can get us injured or killed.

I watched a video yesterday where an officer threw procedure aside and conducted himself in a poor manner that resulted in his death by being shot and overrun with a motor vehicle.  There was no excuse for the methods used nor was there justification for his death.  He made procedural mistakes, intentional or otherwise, and he paid the ultimate price for how he conducted himself in the actions that he took.  He was not alert, watchful, suspicious and wary... His methods and his approach were incorrect... He did not keep his eyes on the people he was dealing with... He also failed in the communication process and in the display of right attitude.  This would be an excellent video from real life that would show how not to do the things that he did.

I am back on the road now myself.  Often I am responsible for emergency scenes.  I am a Community Services Officer.  When I arrive I am expected to make the location and those people within the location as safe as it is possible for me to do.  Busy roads... broken down vehicles... accident scenes... vehicles and people within the roadways with high volumes of traffic...

A disabled school bus in the right-hand traffic lane of a busy four lane undivided highway... not able to be moved...
My job - protect the bus and other traffic until the bus can be moved... That may take minutes or hours... It takes a long time even when we do the best we are able to do.

A rider who laid his scooter over too far after the drive belt broke and was struck between the eyes by the end of a handlebar grip and knocked unconscious... Check him out and get assistance for him in relation to injuries and health needs... Police, Fire and Rescue arrive and he goes to the hospital.

A compact van full of little children and their parents... Broken down in the left lane of a busy four lane divided highway... Hot afternoon sun and temperatures felt like a hundred degrees... Make the scene safe by shielding the car with my vehicle and cones to move traffic into the other lane... Then physically pushing the vehicle out of the traffic lane into the median.  There I concluded that he was out of fuel and pumped fuel into his tank... All the passengers are sweltering in the heat but I was in a small vehicle that would not accommodate them to keep them cool... The person they called for assistance while I was getting there called and advised they had experienced a flat tire and would not make it to them.  The gas did the trick and they were shortly on their way home.

A nurse on her way to work... car dies in the left-hand lane of an eight lane busy highway at a very busy intersection... A supervisor finds her and calls for assistance...
I am assigned... Upon arrival I ask the supervisor to assist me in physically pushing the vehicle into the beginning of a two lane left turn lane to get her out of traffic... We did so and I set my vehicle and cones to shield her... Her battery is dead and her charging system has failed... The supervisor is gone and I am alone with the problem... She called for help and it shortly arrives in the form of her fiancé' and his brother... I block traffic... They push the vehicle into a private parking area across the five lanes with the owner's permission... The road is clear and they are all safe... I go to the next assignment.

My days are filled with such activity unless I am in the office doing paperwork , researching the answers to some problem or checking the city web site for official e-mail messages.  I have manually directed more traffic in the past three weeks than I have done in the past forty years.  Sometime the situations are so bad that we have to send traffic back in the direction from which it has come because multiple accidents  will be blocking the roads for a very long time and the backed up traffic is creating problems on other major, intersecting roadways.  Sometimes we are blocking interior lanes on an interstate because motorcycle officers need protection while investigating motor vehicle crashes. 

I see this job as a further expansion of duties to my officers, their families and the citizens that are in need.  I have spent well over two thirds of my life being involved in  peace making and peace keeping.  I love this kind of work.  I learned long ago how to do this kind of work, do it well and keep good records of what I am responsible to accomplish.  I really am like a kid with a new toy and in spite of the long hours of duty I am being rejuvenated by the job and the work that I am able to accomplish.  My Commander-In-Chief has blessed me with good people to work with and to work for.

I needed a paying job because of my daughter's medical needs.  I applied for other jobs outside the area but no success.  I applied for several jobs with the police department that I have served for over 30 years and was offered two jobs at the same time.  Once again I am functioning where I fit and loving it.

I pray for each of you each day that you might also discover that same blessing... to find exactly where you fit and function well there.  If you are not there now, I pray that you will be there soon.

Once again I close with my usual... BUT THIS TIME I MUST BE EVEN MORE EMPHATIC...  "BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!"  I do not ever want to watch another video such as the one I referred to in this message again in the rest of my life here.

Be ALERT... WATCHFUL... SUSPICIOUS... AND WARY!!!

Take the very best possible care of yourself as you care for and about others.  See to the best of welfare for your spirit... You spirit needs to be strong and healthy in order for you to be successful.

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.]

I represent, write for... and give the credit to:
God the Father (my Commander-in-Chief),
Jesus Christ the Son (the Eternal Captain of my life) and
the Holy Spirit of God (my Eternal Teacher, Keeper and Guide).
In Christ I live... with Him and for you I serve...
And I rejoice that you are there whether you are Christian or not...
D. R. (Don) Staton, Chaplain to Peace Keepers, 
VIRGINIA STATE POLICE ALUMNI,
RETIRED Police Officer, Certified Police Instructor,
757-431-2190, chpln1@verizon.net
3709 Beacon Lane, Virginia Beach, VA 23452
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