To My Fellow Woman Who Wears a Uniform, Thank You. – A Tribute to Officer Kerrie Orozco

I am a woman.  I am a woman who could never be a police officer.  I spend the vast majority of my life as a parent worried about the “what ifs” in life.  What if my airplane crashes?  What if I get in a car wreck and I’m gone?  What if I was severely injured and my family was faced with the decision to pull me off life support?  What if my son grows up without his mother?  That is just a small snapshot of the questions I have as a civilian.  Can you imagine what my inner dialog would be as a police officer?  I could never be a police officer because I’m not built for that kind of bravery.

I have been asked several times to write an article honoring our police women.  I have to be honest.  I’ve really struggled with it.  I’ve picked the brains of all my female friends of law enforcement, I have sent out questionnaires to women I do not even know hoping that I could have some insight into their lives, and I have poured myself over articles looking for ways to write it.  But, I have fallen short every single time.  I’m an emotional writer.  I write from experiences and feelings.  I have struggled writing about it because I don’t understand them….because I’m not them.

My inability to write about this subject changed today and, even so, I will still fall short on the matter.  A female officer was killed in the line of duty today.  Detective Kerrie Orozco, a woman well known for her passion in her community and her love for inspiring children, was shot while conducting a felony arrest warrant.  Bluntly put, she was murdered by a criminal and even more bluntly put, I’m not even close to being upset about his death today.  I won’t even mention his name because his name does not deserve to reside in the same place as hers.

There are two sides of the internet today.  I’m not sure how the numbers are divided but I do know that there are those who are mourning a hero who served her community with honor and integrity and, there are those who are mourning the life of the criminal because he is “another black kid taken by the hands of the police.”  Instead of blaming the loss of black lives on the police society, why don’t you take a long hard look at the life you took today; a life that was committed to making a difference in the broken world so many claim to hate.  Even more so, she made a difference by doing something about it.  She didn’t claim to want change while letting her words float away in the wind with the rest of your excuses on why our world appears infinitely divided.

I’ll show you how Detective Orozco felt about black youth.  She felt called to make a difference in their lives by bridging the gap between community and policing.  I see a whole bunch of kids that are going to miss Detective Orozco.

Photo Credit: http://www.aaja.org/glory-days-of-baseball/

If you are someone who is claiming just to want more police accountability, the time to stand up and say that there has been enough violence is now.  You can want those things, advocate for those things, and let your voice be heard in a way that is productive and not in a way that incite violence. You can be a positive voice and a mind that opens up positive dialogs.   I would actually listen to that.  I am eager to hear your voices over those who have called for our family’s deaths.

She acted.  She did.  And her service has ultimately cost her all the things that I fear as a civilian.  Her child will go to bed without a mother tonight.  Her husband will go to bed without a wife.  Her parents will go to bed without their daughter.  Her community?  They will go to bed with one less hero on their streets.  If this is what the anti-police movement is trying to accomplish, I hope you’re happy.  Even more so, if you are happily promoting the violence of more sons, daughters, husbands, wives, mommies and daddies……. justice will be served.  I don’t know if it will be in this lifetime or the next (maybe both) but you’ll be taking an empty suitcase full of the positive contribution you made in this world with you.

To the women in Law Enforcement, thank you!  Thank you for being more brave than I am.  Thank you for having the courage that I so often lack.  Thank you for facing my fears head on every single day without expecting anything in return.  Thank you for putting your life and your motherhood at risk so I may safely continue on with mine.  Thank you isn’t enough but it’s all I have.  You are amazing women.  I’m honored to call you my friends, my sisters, and my fellow human.

Brian Moore.  Greg Moore. Richard Martin.  Benjamin Deen.  Liquori Tate. Sonny Smith. Kerrie Orozco.  May we never forget their faces.  May we never forget their names.  

Serve on.  Be Brave.  Go Home.

– Elizabeth