Heartwarming Police Stories, Part 1 of 2

All over the world, police officers perform amazing feats of bravery and compassion every day. These heroes have a rare combination of courage, caring, strength, and intelligence. Police officers walk into a multitude of different situations where they must think quickly and come up with a solution, whether they need to save someone in an emergency or use their intelligence and wisdom to diffuse a tense or threatening situation. Their courage and desire to serve others enables these heroes to run into danger while everyone else is running away.

These great men and women do not just fight crime; they are called on to act whenever a member of their community is in danger. For example, Officer Erika Urrea of the Lodi Police Department in California put her own life at risk to save a man whose wheelchair was caught on the train tracks while a train sped towards him. Her body camera recorded the courageous rescue.

Police officers also encounter the frightened and vulnerable every single day. Officer Michael Rivers of the Goldsboro Police Department in North Carolina, USA, was driving his patrol car when he saw a homeless woman on the side of the road. Her homemade t-shirt read “Homeless: The fastest way of becoming a nobody.” The officer said, “God put it on my heart to get her lunch.” Officer Rivers bought some pizza to share and sat with the woman, Michelle, for 45 minutes. What a beautiful soul he is to reach out to those in need to provide emotional support. May we all cherish the officers who help our community every day.

In September 2020, Supreme Master Ching Hai had beautiful words of praise for the police officers who sacrifice so much to help and protect others. “The presence of the police is necessary as long as our society has not behaved well in general. (Yes.) And it can help to lessen crime. It can help to restore order in some areas. And it helps save lives also. We should be also very grateful to the police, (Yes, Master.) everywhere.”

Police work is really about helping, rescuing, and protecting. It needs the rare souls that are willing to undergo much danger in the service of others. What a blessing these men and women are to their countries and communities!