Editor’s Note: This week’s PoliceOne First Person essay is from PoliceOne Member Phil Jones, a Sergeant with the Washoe County (Nev.) Sheriff’s Office. In PoliceOne “First Person” essays, our Members and Columnists candidly share their own unique view of the world. This is a platform from which individual officers can share their own personal insights on issues confronting cops today, as well as opinions, observations, and advice on living life behind the thin blue line. If you want to share your own perspective with other P1 Members, simply send us an email with your story.
By Sergeant Phil Jones, Washoe County (Nev.) Sheriff’s Office
One evening, I was sitting in my front yard with a very good friend and my police dog. My friend — who doesn’t work in our business — made a statement about my police dog, which made me ponder a little.
While I was looking down at my Shepherd lying in the yard, wearing his gold chain with his badge out front, we noticed him staring not so kindly at someone walking by my house.
My friend then said, “Too bad that old dog couldn’t have been just a normal dog, instead of being a police dog.”
As I continued to look at my dog, I thought to myself, what is normal for an old dog with a badge?
It’s true that over the years he has missed out on many social gatherings due to being called out — or already being at work. He is way more comfortable in small groups and likes people in front of him, not to his six.
He has started disliking people walking near his house uninvited at night. He has never liked anyone on his lawn or playing with his toys — except other cops. When the doorbell rings, he gets a little angry, as he doesn’t like to be disturbed too much at home.
Besides these job-related behaviors, it is a fact that he has many times had to take a bath when getting off work, as he has gone many places that are just not clean enough to bring home to the family. There are times when he has slept through the entire day, as the nights and days sometimes run together. He’s not really welcome at the public parks.
He tries hard, but old dogs with badges lose some of their people skills with time on the job. Maybe my buddy was right: not very normal.
Then I thought, “What is normal?”
In his career — unlike other old dogs — he has gotten to ride in police cars with his head in a 100 MPH breeze. He still gets excited at the sound of someone on the radio who needs help, or when the siren goes on. He’s been loaded in armored cars and been flown in helicopters of all sizes.
He has seen larger amounts of illegal drugs than most normal people think exist. He has helped some people by finding them when they were lost or scared. He has made other cops feel safer by being the one to go first.
He has been lowered on a cable from high above to the ground. He hated the ride down, but knew the game began when he was on the ground. He was lucky enough to work with many other great cops who were happy to have him by their side. He has been on out on the front line hunting real evil — not for the pay, but because it is what he signed up to do when he was a young cop with a badge.
Heck with it, he is normal as he could be, with the life he chose.
Deep in thought, I did not notice he had moved in front of my chair, looking right at me. As he looked at me, I wondered if he thought I was normal.
Maybe, but we are just a couple “old dogs with badges.”
If we could do it all over, neither of us would change a thing.
Train hard, stay safe, and try to learn from old dogs with badges.
About the Author
Sergeant Phil Jones has 20 years on in Reno. He has worked Detention, Patrol, Gang Unit, SWAT, K9, Academy Staff, Interdiction, and is a Critical Incident Trainer.
