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Posts Tagged ‘Police’

Family Fridays # 19

Posted in Family Fridays, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 09/28/2012| 11 Comments »

A story from my family

When my son was 17, he had two special friends and they did everything together. Andrew was the only one with a driver’s licence and a car, and they would often take off after work and end up anywhere. They were good kids, and we never worried about what they were up to.

One particular summer night, they ended up at the basketball courts at South Beach. The three of them had only just started playing when a couple of police cars pulled up and parked. Moments later, 3 of the four officers approached the boys. They asked their names, then challenged them to a game of 3 on 3. The boys were surprised, and hastily agreed.

As the fully armed officers and teenage boys raced up and down the court, cars began pulling over to watch. People started coming out of their houses and sitting on the stone wall. There was much cheering as the lead changed time and again. The boys put up a good fight, and it was a close game. Afterwards, there was handshakes all round and the officers walked back to their cars.

The boys were covered in bruises from the handcuffs and swinging batons hanging on the officer’s belts, and they were still on such a high when they got home.

‘Who won?’ I asked, knowing how competitive these boys were.

‘They did,’ he said with a grin. ‘But it didn’t matter. This has been the best night of my life and something I will never forget.’

Something so simple had such a profound affect on spectators and three teenage boys. Never underestimate the influence you can have on others. Your actions say much.

DJ

(c) DJ Stutley 2012

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Family Fridays # 13

Posted in Family Fridays, tagged , , , , , , , , , on 08/17/2012| 10 Comments »

The Blind leading the Blind

One evening I was sitting around watching the clock, just waiting till it was time to pick up my daughter from work. Finally I left, even though it was about ten minutes earlier than usual.

About 3 km from home, I slowed, wondering why the cars ahead were all stopping, then changing lanes and tuning. When I arrived on the scene, a car had run into a power pole and live wires snaked across the road. Police were there, directing everyone to turn right.

My heart lurched in fear as I turned the car right. I had no idea where this road would take me. Ahead, I could see the tail lights of three cars. The lead car turned left and I hurried to catch up so that I wouldn’t be left behind. In my rearview mirror, I could see three sets of lights behind me.

I turned left just in time to see the car in front of me turn right – he was still following the person in front of him. By the time I got to that intersection, the car I was following was just turning right again. I put my foot down, afraid of getting left behind in a neighbourhood I didn’t know. By the time I turned, the cars behind were speeding up behind me. Obviously afraid of being left behind too.

Then a left turn, and I arrived in the street to see our lead car sitting in a driveway, the surprised driver standing beside his car looking at this long line of cars now at a standstill stretching around the corner.

I was laughing so hard I could hardly drive. The kind gentleman standing beside his car pointed up the road and we all took off again. This time following a new leader. Eventually we ended up back on the highway, and I was just in time to pick up my daughter.

Makes one think… how many times do we just follow along, not knowing or questioning the credentials of those we are following? Do the people we follow have credibility, integrity, honesty?

DJ

(c) DJ Stutley 2012

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Writing Wednesdays # 9

Posted in Writing Wednesdays, tagged , , , , , , on 07/18/2012| 4 Comments »

During a recent writing workshop, a year 5 student asked me why I wrote crime stories. This is what I told him…

Living in a small country town, I always wanted to grow up and be a police officer or a spy. My favourite comics were detective/spy ones and I learned all I could about secret ways of messaging, writing with invisible ink etc. At one time I went through a phase were I would smooth out a patch of dirt late in the afternoon, in a strategic part of our back yard, then first thing in the morning I would hurry to my patch of dirt and see what/who had walked through it.

All around my back yard I could identify who in my family had been there by the size or tread of their footwear. I could even pick out when a neighbourhood dog or cat had wandered through.

When I hit high-school, I chose subjects that would help me in my quest to be a police officer. In my final year of high-school, my English teacher helped me achieve my dream by contacting the Police Academy and arranging for application papers to be sent to the school. The Academy said that providing I passed the entrance exam, they would make special allowance for me to come straight from high-school to be in the first intake of the new year.

There are no words to describe the excitement and anticipation as I began filling out that paperwork. I was going to fulfil my dream. But then… on the last page, it said ‘Must be an Australian Citizen or a British Subject.’ I was almost 17 years old, was a US citizen at the time, and I felt as though my life was over! The guidance counsellor was no help, asking, ‘Well, what else do you think you’d like to do?’ There was nothing else – I was BORN to be a police officer! It wasn’t fair.

I ended up taking an office job, and discovering that my life wasn’t over. It was just beginning in a new direction that I hadn’t anticipated. I never lost my desire to be a police officer, and I watched all the crime shows I could through the coming years. More than 20 years later, when I sat down to write my first novel, I wrote about what I knew. Police procedure, crime, detecting…

You could have heard a pin drop in the class as they thought about the loss of my dream. Then the same boy asked ‘It’s not too late. Can’t you still become a police officer?’ Bless him… Some dreams are to remain dreams.

Do I regret the path God chose for me? No way. I sometimes wonder what I’d look like in a Police uniform :) but I have had a life I wouldn’t trade.

DJ

 

 

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