For all those, who like me serve as Law Enforcement Officers. And to those who, as I have, served as Correctional Officers.

When God made Peace Officers...

  And the Lord said, "Have you read the spec on this order?"

"A peace officer has to be able to run five miles through alleys in the dark, scale walls, enter homes   the health inspector wouldn't touch, and not wrinkle his uniform."

"He has to be able to sit in an undercover car all day on a stakeout, cover a homicide scene that night, canvass the neighborhood for witnesses, and testify in court the next day."

"He has to be in top physical condition at all times, running on black coffee and half-eaten meals.   And he has to have six pairs of hands."

  The angel shook her head slowly and said, "Six pairs of hands... no way."

"It's not the hands that are causing me problems," said the Lord, "it's the three pairs of eyes an  officer has to have."

  “That's on the standard model?" asked the angel.

The Lord nodded.  "One pair that sees through a bulge in a pocket before he asks, May I see what's in there, sir? (When he already knows and wishes he'd taken that accounting job.)  Another pair here in the side of his head for his partners' safety.  And another pair of eyes here in front that can look reassuringly at a bleeding victim and say, 'You'll be all right ma'am,' when he knows it isn't so."

"Lord", said the angel, touching his sleeve, "rest and work on this tomorrow."

"I can't", said the Lord, "I already have a model that can talk a 250 pound drunk into a patrol car without incident and feed a family of five on a civil service paycheck."

The angel circled the model of the peace officer very slowly, "Can it think?" she asked.

"You bet", said the Lord.  "It can tell you the elements of a hundred crimes; recite Miranda warnings in its sleep; detain, investigate, search, and arrest a gang member on the street in less time than it takes five learned judges to debate the legality of the stop... and still it keeps its sense of humor."

"This officer also has phenomenal personal control.  He can deal with crime scenes painted in hell,  coax a confession from a child abuser, comfort a murder victim's family, and then read in the daily  paper how law enforcement isn't sensitive to the rights of criminal suspects."

 Finally, the angel bent over and ran her finger across the cheek of the peace officer.  "There's a  leak", she pronounced.  "I told you that you were trying to put too much into this model."

 "That's not a leak", said the lord, "it's a tear."

 "What's the tear for?" asked the angel.

 "It's for bottled-up emotions, for fallen comrades, for commitment to that funny piece of cloth  called the American flag, for justice."

 "You're a genius", said the angel.

 The Lord looked somber.  "I didn't put it there", he said.

CORRECTIONAL OFFICER'S PRAYER

LORD I ASK FOR THE COURAGE
COURAGE TO FACE AND CONQUER MY OWN FEARS...
COURAGE TO TAKE ME WHERE OTHERS WILL NOT GO...
I ASK FOR STRENGTH
STRENGTH OF BODY TO PROTECT OTHERS
AND STRENGTH OF SPIRIT TO LEAD OTHERS...

I ASK FOR THE DEDICATION
DEDICATION TO MY JOB; TO DO IT WELL
DEDICATION TO MY COMMUNITY
TO KEEP IT SAFE...

GIVE ME LORD; CONCERN
FOR OTHERS WHO TRUST ME AND COMPASSION FOR THOSE WHO
NEED ME...

AND PLEASE LORD THROUGH IT ALL BE AT MY SIDE...

 UNKNOWN