"I am the police, and I'm here to arrest you. You've broken the law. I did not write the law. I may even disagree with the law but I will enforce it. No matter how you plead, cajole, beg or attempt to stir my sympathies, nothing you do will stop me from placing you in a steel cage with gray bars. If you run away I will chase you. If you fight me I will fight back. If you shoot at me I will shoot back. By law I am unable to walk away. I am a consequence. I am the unpaid bill. I am fate with a badge and a gun. Behind my badge is a heart like yours. I bleed, I think, I love, and yes I *can* be killed. And although I am but one man, I have thousands of brothers and sisters who are the same as me. They will lay down their lives for me, and I them. We stand watch together. The thin-blue-line, protecting the prey from the predators, the good from the bad. We are the police."


Shamelessly stolen from End of Watch. Except for the end, though that sort of thing DOES happen, it is the most accurate portrayal of what life in law enforcement is like. Our jobs vary, but we prank and torment each other. We talk like that, we fight, we drink, we bust balls, we get drunk and we cry and we give in to all those human emotions we suppress and hide 90% of our time. We love each other, as much as we love our wives and children. We give up our right to run away because we stand that line between the flock and the wolves baying in the darkness. We make decisions in fractions of a second that haunt us until our dying day. Watch this movie, and remember that somewhere out in the darkness while you sleep, uniformed men and women roam your streets dedicated to preserving your freedom from fear. Defend yourselves if you wish, we will always support you, but we exist so you can live your lives free from the oppression of those who view your hard work as theirs for the taking.