13 Yr Old Sets Field on Fire with Fireworks, now for the rest of the story...

A personal friend of mine sent this today. He gave me permission to share this with you all.

In this day and age there is so much going on this this world, so much uglyness, hate, racism, etc. It's hard to find something good and inspiring to talk about.

Well, read on....

I had to work today and it ended up being a wonderfully satisfying day.. One of those rare days as a police Officer that comes but once in a rare while..

As kids are want to do, a 13 year old boy was playing with fireworks and set a field on fire. That field happened to be State Property and so off I went to investigate.

There he stood...

Crying, disheveled, dirty, woolly blond curls falling into his face and shaking so badly I thought he was going to fall down.. Which he promptly did when he saw my blue lights and I stepped out of the car in my uniform... There he sat.... Guilty as sin...

A few hundred dollars of damage...

Without much conversation, I wanted him scared for the time being, I loaded him up and carted him off to his house.. Not going to talk to a Juvi without his mother present, too many trap doors in that scenario...

I knocked on the 40 year old 14X65 trailer and out his mother came, A wonderfully caring woman, mad as hell, wearing a dress that had seen much better days and fidgeting with her hair in a vain attempt to make herself more presentable.. I would soon look on her as a picture of loveliness... But that is later..

I start talking to the mother and got permission to talk to the boy right after she whacks him on the head..

Yes Officer I was playing with fireworks
Yes Officer I set that field on fire
But Officer I would have put it out, but I could not get over the fence
Yes Officer I ran to that house and called 911 and then stood by so the firetrucks would know where to go
Then Mr. Officer I waited cause I knew you would want to arrest me......

I turned away as you can imagine... Couldn't let the kid see the big bad Officer cry could I?

Talking with him I discovered that it was just him and his Momma, no idea where the father is, ran off and left them when he was 5 years old and not heard from him since..

Momma works odd jobs doing what she can to make some money and gets food stamps and a welfare check.. She looked like she was about ready to just fall down and die.. She had that eternally tired look, if you know what I mean..

Soooo..

I spent an hour or so telling him how proud I was that he acted like a man and did everything right after the field caught fire.. I told him I used to play with fireworks and took him to a safe place by his property where he can play all he wants too and showed him how to do it safe and still have fun..

I hugged him and patted him on the back a dozen times and when I left, he ran to me and hugged me for what seemed like forever, crying of course in relief after all the tension..

I left before I could not see to drive and stopped by the Firehouse and payed the Fire Department bill and I'll make arrangements tomorrow to pay for the damage to the property..

GOD I LOVE MY JOB SOMETIMES...

This officer I call my friend, he is more like a brother. A true inspiration to me.

Outstanding job officer, outstanding.

This man celebrates what it truly means to be a peace officer and a servent to society! My hat is off to this man and I commend him for the love and respect that he has shown his fellow man. If only we had more like him...

This officer is your personal friend? This is a first hand account that he relayed to you?



Stars and Flags kind of fall short on this one I would say? Thank you so much for sharing. By you posting this, I assume you won't mind me forwarding the story on to everyone I know? People need to read about these types of situations. So much better than random tazings!!

What a great story. This is true patriot, a real police officer.

Imagine the profound effect he's had on that child's life from this point on?

I take my hat off to folk like this.

~Keeper

Yes, he is my friend and told me the story today.


Wouldn't it be great if the 13 year old grew up to become a police or fire man?

THAT is what 'policing' is all about.

I thank God for police officers like that one.

I'm keeping this thread in my bookmarks... to show all those people who insist that all police are fascists.

The funny part is, it probably won't do much to change their opinions, but since the MSM refuses to be 'fair and balanced' I guess I'll have to do it for them.

Be well and stay strong... mystery officer!

wonderful story.....bravo!

5 stars and two thumbs up..hua

What an amazing story to end my day... Thank you OP for posting this.. Wish their were more intelligent members of the military, police, fire dept, etc, out there just like this guy.

Kudos

Originally posted by Maximus_Prime
What an amazing story to end my day... Thank you OP for posting this.. Wish their were more intelligent members of the military, police, fire dept, etc, out there just like this guy.

Kudos

I bet there are plenty. They just don't get the press coverage that sadistic bullies do.

reply to post by elevatedone


Great story. Another real life reminder that there are people making a difference, every day in the real world. Sometimes, "one life at a time" has the most profound impact.

[edit on 6-7-2010 by LadySkadi]

What do you mean the police officer didn't tazer that kid? What kind of outrage is this? Police behavior like this just doesn't happen in Amerika! I'm totally offended that the 13 year old wasn't repeatedly tazered by this cop!

What has the world come to?

Excellent story....starred and flagged!

This is just one of many, many postive examples of how our police deal with incidents how they should be dealt with, not how they are taught to by the book.

A little common sense and a dash of empathy, sympathy and recollection of we were like as kids, goes a long way.

Creates a whole world of respect too.

Thanks again for the story elevatedone, and when you see your mate next, thank him from me for keeping the good side of policing alive and kicking.

CX.

[edit on 6/7/10 by CX]

that made me happy and kinda teary

still waiting on some negative nancy to come in and talk some ish... wonder how long that'll take

Thanks for the great story OP, it's nice to actually hear something heart warming once in awhile, especially with all the "downer" topics we've had lately.

What the hells wrong with you people ? the kid burnt down a field! what if he'd killed himeslf ? what if he'd killed someone else ? and the kid gets told what ? don't worry about it kid I did silly stuff when I was young too, now give your uncle policeman a hug"

Jesus, I'm cool with the police officer trying to help out and everything but how about doing that after you've scared the living crap out of him with a few hours in a cell and the threat of a criminal damage and reckless endangerment charge.

That's a lesson he really needs to learn which will also benefit him in the future. what your mate did was teach him that dangerous actions don't have consequences.

Stuff like this happens more often than you think, but it isn't "newsworthy". It's nice to see a counterbalance occasionally to the horror stories about abuse that hit the MSM.

That actually choked me up a little. Buy your buddy a drink for me. I'm generous like that.

What a shame it's this kind of story that's the exception and not the rule.
I hope this officer's guardian angel keeps an extra eye out for him in the future. We need him around as long as we can to influence as many people as possible.

peace

reply to post by dannyfal


About 3 minutes after you asked.