Policing With Honor

Policing With Honor- “Providing the services of law enforcement with the highest degree of Courtesy, Competence, Integrity and Compassion”

I am Randy Sutton, a career Police Officer with almost thirty years of law enforcement experience. Thank you for your interest in “Policing With Honor”. If you are an active or former law enforcement officer I hope that you will find the content of this website not simply a source of information but also a source of pride and inspiration. For this website and all that it contains is dedicated to the philosophy of Honor and there is no profession in which that concept dwells more significantly than that of law enforcement.

The field of law enforcement is relatively small. Our ranks include approximately 700,00 city, county, municipal police and sheriffs officers as well as a myriad of federal agencies and police departments. When you examine the tasks that our nations law officers are asked and expected to perform it is readily apparent how challenging a profession it is.

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Some of these challenges are administrative in nature, some are financial such as diminishing resources and increasing responsibilities but while these are legitimate concerns, they will not be the focus of this website. It is the challenges to our humanity, integrity and sense of mission that is at the core of “Policing With Honor”.

I can claim without fear of recrimination that the vast majority of the men and women who make up the ranks of law enforcement officers serve their agencies honorably and competently. We rarely see that fact in headlines across the country, nor should we. Serving our nations citizens is our job, and with that badge comes the responsibility to perform that job to the best of our abilities.

What we Will see in the headlines of newspapers and television stations throughout the country on an all too frequent basis is the spotlight shining brightly on law enforcement officers who make choices and decisions that destroy not only their careers but tarnish the image of all who share the title of law enforcement officer.

Why do these men and women make the decisions that they do? What leads a law officer to discard their idealism and responsibility to themselves and those they serve? And perhaps more importantly, how can we, as the guardians of our nations people not fall prey to the temptations that surround us and best protect those we have sworn to serve?

That is the purpose of the concepts of “Policing With Honor”. My goal is to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and concepts that will educate and inspire our nations law enforcement officers. I invite you to participate with your comments and questions and I urge you to consider that throughout this life there is nothing stronger then belief. It is to the men and women of our nations law enforcement community that I dedicate this web site and this concept:  (I Believe)...

I Believe
by Randy Sutton

I am a cop and I believe…

I believe in my badge and all that it stands for – for courage, for honor and for compassion. For unity and integrity and for sacrifice.

I believe in the men and women who stand beside me with gleaming gold and silver worn proudly on their chests. I know of their triumphs and I know their pain. For cruelty and violence is the acid that corrodes our souls, and it is belief alone that can shield us from being consumed. The belief that our purpose and destinies lay in the protecting of others.

I believe that cops are warriors. They are soldiers in one sense, because combat is very real and very personal and never far from their reality. But cops are much more. They are the peace- makers and their courage is tempered with their compassion. Every cop knows that each day may be his or her last. They know that violence may take them and they may fall and yet they go on. They go on because of belief. Belief in something greater than themselves. They believe in justice. Noble words? You bet they are and I’m proud to say them, for I’m a cop and I believe.

To a cop, justice not just a hypothetical theory. Nor is it a concept open to debate. It is as real and as visceral as the mournful sound of “Taps” while another blue clad body is laid to rest. It is something to be fought for…and if necessary, to die for. Yes, I’m a cop, and I believe.

I believe that when my career is over and I no longer shoulder the burdens of my profession, I will look back with pride. Pride in myself in the knowledge that I did my best. Pride in my brothers and sisters for continuing on. And most of all, pride in my badge and for all that it stands for. I’m a cop. And this is what I believe.