Coppers work, work , and work.

Remember when you were a young copper with kids in grade school , a mortgage, car note, (maybe a girl on the side)? Man, times were tough. What did you do? Like most of us, you started doing part time work, side jobs, we called them. Most guys have more than one. It's easy for police officers to find work. Security work mostly. It helped to pay the bills and a little extra for entertainment. Every department has a guy who knows where to go for side jobs.

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There were days when I didn't know whether I was coming or going. I'd wake up after my usual four hours sleep and wonder what job was I supposed to be at in half an hour.

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What happened to the glamorous job of a big city copper? All I got so far was rotating shifts every month, crappy ghetto district, and work, work, work.

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I went to work feeling like crap most of the time. Looking around the roll call room did nothing to lift my spirits either. The late cars on the midnight to eight shift often consisted of three one man cars and the two man wagon. This was in one of the busiest ghetto districts of the city. There was low morale, no manpower, and junk cars that were hot in the summer and cold in the winter. Once on the street though, we protected each other. We always knew where the other cars were and showed up on their jobs after finishing ours. Trying to stay awake during that last hour when the sun was beating in the windshield was the worst. Then it's go home sleep a few hours and go to the part timer. Every copper did some version of this.

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The years passed. I left the runnin and gunnin to the young guys long ago. The kids grew up. They went to college. (Remember the three jobs? Still got em.)

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One day, the house is empty. The kids have moved out. GREAT, now I can stop working myself ragged. I can take it easy now.

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Wait a minute. How did I pay for those two weeks in Cabo last month? How about those two weeks in Puerto Vallarta I got planned for next winter? Those are nice resorts we stay at. We never used to stay at such nice resorts.

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CRAPOLA! I like working at the pro stadiums. I like watching baseball games in the summer. Working at the hockey and basketball games in the winter is great. I enjoy working the homeland security gig at the airport. It's actually not so bad, after all. I ain't digging ditches!

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I'm in my peak earning years! I got seniority! I'm in a good unit.

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Guess what! I still got my three jobs. Six hours of sleep is a luxury.

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Life is Beautiful!

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As God knows, I love being a big city copper.