Sorry if this is too dramatic. It's been a dramatic day.

I'm a 911 dispatcher. My mom was a 911 dispatcher. My dad was a Mesa cop. My uncle was a Phoenix cop. My cousin is a Gilbert cop. My best friend is a Gilbert cop. The boy is a Phoenix cop.

We serve a function that is necessary. We are mostly hated and mocked for it.
We're certainly underpaid for it.

Each work day we wonder if there will be a high speed chase. A foot pursuit. A bank robbery. Something that will remind us why we love this job and remind the public that we are the good guys. The heroes.

The public tends to forget that fact after they've been handed a speeding ticket.
We mostly hate giving you a speeding ticket too. No cop enjoys doing paperwork.
I say mostly because if you're a total asshole... we might enjoy giving you a ticket.

Last night a Gilbert officer was killed. Shot in the head. While doing a traffic stop.
He was a father of two little girls.

During a traffic stop. In Gilbert.

For the first time in nine years I watched my best friend cry.
The boy didn't cry. Last year he watched his brother in uniform bleed out on a street corner.
I guess you don't cry much after that.

I cried. I cried, realizing I could lose either of these boys that I care for. I cried realizing that I could be dispatching one day and hearing those shots over the radio. I cried, not knowing if I am cut out for this job. I cried, knowing that I can't return to a normal life without the mental scars that have formed in just four months of this job.

The boy's reassurance to me? He said
"It's ok. It wasn't one of us. Not today."

That was his reassurance. "Not today".

Just living life comes with certain risk. There are car accidents, health issues. No one is guaranteed to come home safely.

But the Sworn Officers of your city put on their work clothes every day wondering
is today the day I don't come home?
is today the day I see something that will haunt my nightmares?

You are a cop because you don't know how not to be one.
You do this job because you don't know how not to.

We deal with what you fear and keep you safe even though you hate us.
The next time you see a man wearing the shield, thank him.

RIP Lt. Eric Shuhandler, Gilbert PD.