Law enforcement agency social media channels were quite busy for Veteran’s Day 2023, depicting America’s cops embracing military service members who survived combat and all manner of wartime grit and vulnerabilities.
On November 11, 2023, many police posts illustrated U.S. Armed Forces personnel who completed a military tour of duty, were honorably discharged, and then sought the doors leading to continued service in law enforcement careers, indicative of staying in uniform to fight the good fight on behalf of those who may feel increasingly vulnerable and defenseless amid the chronic chaos in society.
Sometimes it is a combination of these two realms, in which some of our country’s cops serve dual roles as police officers as well as military reservists who, from time to time, are called up to serve military missions abroad, like Jacksonville Beach Police Department Officer D. Threadford…
(Photo courtesy of the Jacksonville Beach Police Department.)
“Jacksonville Beach Hometown Hero Patrol Officer and USAF Reservist Technical Sergeant D. Threadford was activated by the military and has been serving overseas for the past six months.
“We are so proud of and thankful for his dedication and commitment to our country and our community,” a Jacksonville Beach Police press release explained.
An article published by the National Police Association in December 2020, delineated the duality of military/police service, exposing the foundations afforded by stateside law enforcement combined with cops who, as reservists, are called up for requisite military missions outside of U.S. territory.
Although America’s cops handily took the torch in both soldier/police officer roles, there was a time when being called up to again serve abroad was unjustly laden with the potential of losing their law enforcement officer career for doing so. Some were let go. It took a congressional act to overcome that idiocy. Nowadays, all LEOs still serving in the military have protection against oustings.
(Photo courtesy of the Irvine Police Department.)
Comingled in Irvine, California were cops and soldiers paying tribute to all military veterans, including their own: “Happy Veterans Day! Thank you to all who have served our great country. The Irvine Police Department is fortunate to have almost 40 Veterans serving our City, and we thank them for their selfless service and commitment to helping others.”
Many of these service-oriented professionals often fill the roles of trainers and instructors —denoted by red shirts— at America’s police academies, benevolently offering not only wise words of advice stemming from sheer experience but also sharing field-tested tactics and strategies to help overcome the malevolent monsters.
The red-shirted, bona fide public safety instructors cater a combo of military experience and police work, instilling insights for the latest batches of the nation’s newest cops to get home after tours of duty.
How Broad is the Soldiers-to-Cops Ratio?
According to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Community Policing Dispatch, “Military service and service as a law enforcement professional have many similar obligations and responsibilities, and they share the satisfaction of understanding the important role they play in our society. Nearly 25 percent of today’s law enforcement community has a military background.”
(Photo courtesy of the U.S. Marshals Service.)
The DoJ launched a “Keep America Safe” initiative, expending efforts to increase the number of the nation’s cops by fashioning the transition from serving in the U.S. Armed Forces to lacing duty boots as law enforcement officers serving federal, state, county, and city police organizations.
Under the Keep America Safe umbrella is the Veterans’ Transition Forum, whereby the federal government helps fill vacant police officer roles in the nation.
The NPA has posted material underscoring the growing number of vacant police roles in America’s law enforcement entities —the proverbial exodus— largely thanks to the abysmal political base leading sheep to gulp from hateful water troughs. Environs ruled by radical liberal governance have been hardest hit, some opining that they are decimated beyond repair. We shall see.
However, the Veterans Transition Forum head counters offer some promising numbers to fill the severely declined police roles:
“VTF has identified an abundant source of mature and readily trained young men and women: our military veterans. Approximately 166,000 veterans aged 18–44 are currently unemployed; another 200,000 service members will leave active duty this year and each year going forward.”
Sounds well-intentioned. But it makes one wonder where we’d be if support for police was galvanized all along. Lately, courageous cops have been devalued, defunded, demoralized, betrayed, brow-beaten, physically assaulted, or murdered during the mayhem promulgated by certain factions. Indeed, trust is an issue…a big one.
In all of this, America’s crimefighters continue to suit up and serve well. That circles back to honoring our military vets…
Veterans’ Day demonstrates the “I’ve got your back” mantra by recognizing the stalwart police professionals who show out to honor those who fought the good fight and rose victoriously, proudly donning any among various military caps embroidered with survivorship statements indicating where battlegrounds were experienced.
For those veteran boots who now walk upon American soil in civilian footwear, perhaps bewildered by the heralded constitutional freedoms for which they fought being wholesaled and dwindled, our salute is heartfelt and rather promissory: Cops of all stripes continue the legacy of fighting the good fight and respect you for painstakingly paving the road upon which we parade in your honor.
