What is a Policeman?

[james13f]

(I found this on the web, thought I'd share.)

Famed columnist, Paul Harvey wrote this sometime during the mid-60's. I clipped the article from the San Diego Union newspaper and in my opinion, the article is just as appropriate today and it was 40 years ago.
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PAUL HARVEY SAYS: Policeman Is Public's Most Tested Individual

Don't credit me with this mongrel prose; it has many parents; at least 420,000 of them: Policemen.

A policeman is a composite of what all men are, a mingling of saint and sinner, dust and diety.

Culled statistics wave the fan over the stinkers, under-score instances of dishonesty and brutality because they are "news." What that really means is that they are exceptional, unusual, not common-place.

Buried under the froth is the fact: Less than one-half of one per cent of the policemen misfit that uniform. That's a better average than you'd find among clergymen.

What is a policeman made of? He, of all men, is at once, the most needed and the most unwanted.

He's a strangely nameless creature who is "sir" to ,his face and "fuzz" behind his back.

He must be such a diplomat that he can settle differences between individuals so that each will think he won.

But............
If the policeman is neat, he's conceited; if he's careless, he's a bum.
If he's pleasant, he's a flirt; if he's not, he's a grouch. He must make in an instant decisions which would require months for a lawyer .

But............
If he hurries, he's careless; if he's deliberate, he's lazy.

He must be first to an accident and infallible with a diagnosis.
He must be able to start breathing, stop bleeding, tie splints, and dry tears.

The police officer must know every gun, draw on the run and hit where it doesn't hurt.

He must be able to whip two men twice his size and half his age without damaging
his uniform and without being "brutal."

If you hit him, he's a coward; if he hits you, he's a bully.

The policeman must, from a single hair, be able to describe the crime, the weapon and the criminal - and tell you where the crimial is hiding.

But...
If he catches the criminal he is lucky; if he doesn't, he's a dunce.

The policeman must chase bum leads to a dead end, stake-out 10 nights to tag one witness who saw it happen but refuses to remember.

The policeman must be a minister, a social worker, a diplomat, a tough guy and a gentleman.

And of course he will have to be a genius.....For he'll have to feed a family on a policeman's salary.