A Simple Gesture

Police Officers are often confronted with horrors and tragedy that can sap their humanity. To survive, they adopt a tough and calloused veneer. Yet, there are moments when they show us that most of them are truly caring and kind.

I am a proud retired member of the East Providence (RI) Police department. A simple gesture by current members of that department reminds us that, above all else, police officers are human.

On a hill overlooking the city of Providence, in view of Hasbro Children’s Hospital, the men and women of the East Providence Police Department assemble for a weekly tradition.

As darkness falls, the line of cruisers come to life with their red and blue emergency lights. The sky lights up and, across the bay, the children of the hospital receive a heartfelt goodnight from the officers.

There’s a video that shows the images but it cannot capture the emotion of the moment.

Cops wishing a goodnight to kids facing things most of us cannot begin to imagine. The officers standing on the hill, lit up by the flashing red and blue, let those kids know that the thin blue line remembers them.

Need to know what a good cop looks like? Take a moment to watch that hill.

(Requiescat in Pace TJ)