Survival

“I’m not going and that’s final.”

The rookie officer had heard similar words spoken before, but the eyes glaring from the scraggily face of the homeless man lying on the ground before him left no uncertainty that he meant them.  The sound of the patrol car door opening behind him informed him his training officer had made the same assessment:  this man would not move along of his own accord, and it would take a struggle to place this man into custody.

Conflict welled up in the rookie just as before.  This indigent posed no threat by lying in the doorway of an abandoned building in a run-down part of town.  With all his worldly possessions by his side in a shopping cart, this man had sheltered himself from the wind on a cold winter evening and satisfied his small list of needs.  Only the desires of the Mayor to ‘clear the streets’ had brought about this confrontation.

The discipline of his training, however, said differently.

Just a few weeks before, the young officer faced a similar situation at a domestic call.  When the time came to act, the training officer acted decisively when the rookie hesitated.  The ensuing discussion after the suspect was booked in the jail seared itself in the rookie’s brain.

“No one challenges your authority on the street,” the training officer said.  “I don’t care what the hell you think about the situation, if someone bucks up on you, you put their ass in jail.  Freeze up one more time and I will see that your ass is fired -- if you survive.”

Despite the conflict, there was no hesitation as the rookie reached for his handcuffs.  As much as he may have cared about this man’s survival, he cared about his own.

Word Count: 297