Words for Graduates

Matthew 5:13-16 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."

Last week, I had the privilege to offer the keynote address to Class 23 of the Adult Corrections Officer Core Course at the Santa Rosa Junior College Public Safety Training Center. Here are my comments:

“Pray for the best. Train for the worst.”(The Class Motto)

Congratulations to all of you for completing the program here at the Public Safety Training Center. This experience will serve as the foundation for your careers. It is now time to start applying your skills in the workplace and build the house that represents your professional journey.

I can tell you that after serving 24 years in law enforcement, it is important to keep a positive outlook on life, to maintain your sense of humor and always remember where you came from.

Put together, it means to stay humble and recognize that we are servants to everyone. So in the spirit of humility, I will tell you that the Assistant Police Chief of the Monterey Police Department got his start working at Disneyland. I was a ride operator on the Jungle Cruise, the largest collection of plastic plants and animals ever assembled in one place!

GK Chesterton said it like this: "Humility, the holding of ourselves lightly, prepares us for an infinity of unmerited triumphs.” Let yourselves be surprised at work and celebrate your success!

I would like to share three words with you that I hope will guide your professional path and give you something to hold on to when things are going well and when you face challenges in your service to your communities. 

The three words are Justice, Mercy and Grace.

Justice

As I prepared my comments for today, it occurred to me that your role as a corrections officer transcends all areas of the criminal justice system. From arrest and booking, to trial and conviction and serving a jail sentence; you have a significant role in the criminal justice process.

What this means it is that it is critical that you DO YOUR JOB. At the end of each day ask yourself these questions: First - Did I do my job? Second - Did I do my best to create and maintain a safe community?

Do Your Job means that you think two levels above your position. For people that serve in my department, I expect every corrections officer to think like a lieutenant. This perspective will motivate you to perform at a higher level of service. The expectation is that you give the highest level of customer service no matter if it is a law enforcement officer, a member of the community or a prisoner. Your performance is a reflection of your department and our profession.

Mercy

Mercy is about relationships. Things don’t get much worse than getting arrested. You offer the first act of mercy to prisoners because you are the one taking off the handcuffs.

Mercy means that you can only panic, when I tell you, “You can panic.” In your role, people look to you to set the tone. If you communicate a sense of peace when you book someone into jail, people will be less likely to get agitated. You are a leader and you set the tone.

Keep in mind that there is always more to the story. If you take some time to learn about the people you encounter during a single booking or if the prisoner visits your facility so often they get frequent flyer miles, you have the opportunity to offer a word of encouragement that can change a life forever.

Never underestimate the power of relationships. The great corrections professional is the one who can build a relationship during the 20 minute booking process. Find a way to get people to look past the badge.

Grace

Grace is for people you work with. It is a sure thing that you will get frustrated with your peers, your supervisors and your managers. The ability to forgive others and perform your job beyond their expectations demonstrates a willingness to let the past go and create a highly professional environment. There is always more to the story and people in your organization will look to you, “not to panic.”

Think of grace in the context of getting stopped for a traffic violation. If justice is getting a ticket and mercy is getting a break then grace is not getting a ticket AND the cop gives you a Code 3 escort to your destination AND buys you a doughnut on the way.

Do not hold grudges. Always be hopeful. Remember that you can only change where you are at.

Once again congratulations and hold on to Justice, Mercy and Grace.

Hitting Rock Bottom

“Those who have fallen may remember the fall, even when they forget the height…There is such a thing as the momentary power to remember that we forget. And the most ignorant of humanity know by the very look of earth that they have forgotten heaven.” G. K. Chesterton - The Everlasting Man.

One afternoon, I was set up on a busy street with a radar gun watching for speeders. It did not take long to catch a guy driving much faster than the speed limit and I pulled him over in a gas station parking lot. A contact like this always starts the same way, “Good afternoon. My name is Officer Aspland with the Santa Barbara Police Department. I stopped you for speeding. Is there any lawful reason why you were exceeding the speed limit today?”

The guy was quick to admit he was speeding. I suppose part of his motivation was that a cloud of smoke smelling very much like marijuana was wafting out of the cab of his truck. I told him, “I need to see your driver’s license, registration, proof of insurance and the rest of the marijuana you haven’t smoked.” He looked surprised. I figured he did not think I would notice the smoke and the odor if he admitted to speeding.  He popped open the center console of the truck and gave me a baggie of pot.

I had him step back to my car and my partner stood by with the guy while I searched the truck. He left the keys on the truck bench and I noticed a very small Tupperware bowl hanging off his key ring. Inside the little storage container was a rock of cocaine.  My speeding ticket turned into a felony arrest for possession of coke. 

The following year on the Fourth of July, I worked foot patrol at Shoreline Park just north of the Santa Barbara harbor. It was in the parking lot that this guy walked up to me and told me his arrest was the wake up call he needed. He told me that he was so strung out on cocaine that he forgot that he stashed his dope in a key ring, Tupperware charm. He was now sober, reunited with his family and salvaged his marriage. He walked me over to his picnic area, introduced me to his wife and insisted that I share in his barbeque. Rock bottom was in this situation was a key ring charm.

For the Apostle Peter, rock bottom happened when he denied he was a follower Jesus during the crucifixion. Peter’s denial came on the heels of his proclamation that he would never abandon the Lord. To make things worse, Jesus told Peter that he would deny him three times before the night ended. “Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!” John 13:38

Matthew 26: 69-75 tells the rest of the story, “Now Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, and a servant girl came to him. ‘You also were with Jesus of Galilee,’ she said. But he denied it before them all. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ he said. Then he went out to the gateway, where another servant girl saw him and said to the people there, ‘This fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth.’ He denied it again, with an oath: ‘I don’t know the man!’ After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, ‘Surely you are one of them; your accent gives you away.’ Then he began to call down curses, and he swore to them, ‘I don’t know the man!’ Immediately a rooster crowed. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: ‘Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.’ And he went outside and wept bitterly.”

After Jesus died, Peter went back to his job as a fisherman. What else was he going to do? He spent three years of his life serving Jesus and then denied knowing the man Peter believed was God. A few days following the resurrection, Peter went out all night fishing and caught nothing. He was bringing the boat into harbor when a man standing on the shoreline called to him and told him to cast his nets over the side of the boat for one more try. Peter did as he was told, he had an empty boat with nothing to lose. The net was so full that he could not haul all the fish in. Peter realized that the man on the shore was the resurrected Jesus. He jumped over board and swam in from his boat. He walked onto the beach and found Jesus had prepared ... a barbeque! After breakfast, Jesus called Peter to begin his ministry to build the church. Rock bottom for Peter was the foundation for changing the world.

“Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” Matthew 16: 17-18 

Rock bottom is different for everyone. The question is what will you do when you get there?

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9

When Grace Shines Though

Ephesians 2: 8-9 says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” There is peace that surpasses all understanding in this verse. I remember a moment as a police officer when my understanding of grace became very clear when I arrested an alcoholic, transient named Toby. 

It is a tragedy that the criminal justice system is the only answer for some addicted to drugs and alcohol. These people are so driven by their addiction that they neglect even their basic needs. These people wind up on the street and the only time they receive help is after they are locked up in jail. Jail becomes a place to sober up, get fed and receive medical treatment.

In Santa Barbara, I knew these people too well. I wrote them citations for possessing open containers of alcohol in public, aggressively panhandling and trespassing on private property. I took them to jail when they were drunk in public and when they had arrest warrants for failing to appear in court. It was a revolving door. They would not choose to help themselves and the only thing to do was to arrest them. I was the last stop.

One afternoon, I got assigned a 911 call for a man passed out in a flower planter off of State Street across from a high end, shopping center. The planter was part of a walkway that brought people from downtown to a parking garage one block away. Based on the description over the radio, I figured that it was one of the many transients I dealt with on a daily basis. I had done this hundreds of times before, but this encounter would turn out to be more of a God story than a Cop story.

I parked my police car in the garage and headed toward State Street. As I started down the sidewalk, I could see a very dirty man lying on his side, passed out in a planter. I knew the man by sight. It was Toby. If police gave out frequent flyer miles for arrests, he would be a platinum member. Toby was an alcoholic and lived on the street. I had arrested him so many times that I knew his full name and birthday by heart. Toby lived for one thing: alcohol. Nothing else mattered to him. His existence revolved around how to get to his next drink.

It was no wonder someone called the police. He was filthy. He had not bathed for weeks and was wearing the same dirt encrusted clothes he had worn for months. I remember his fingernails being so dirty they looked like a bad nail polish job. He passed out in direct sunlight. Great for flowers but not for Toby. He was dripping with sweat. His hair was matted to his head. I could smell him long before I walked up to him. I suspect that only his level of inebriation prevented him from being overwhelmed by his own odor.

Toby found a way to hit rock bottom and start digging. There was nothing I could do for him except arrest him and take him to jail. I knew that once at jail, his clothes would be put in a plastic, garbage bag; unwashed and reeking of body odor, vomit and filth. They would be returned to him in the same condition after he sobered up. He would get a sack lunch and released back to the street to walk the 5 miles back to State Street. I had no doubt that within the week I would be repeating the process of arresting and booking Toby.

I stood over Toby and looked at him. There was no lecturing, debate or discussion that would make any difference or cause him to get on the wagon. There was no one around; just Toby lying in the planter and me standing on the sidewalk. I took out my handcuffs and before I arrested him I said, “Toby, I sure hope you know Jesus.”

Toby looked up at me, raised his hand, pointed to the sky and with a thick slur said, “Jesus is my Lord, man”

In that moment, I understood that the total depravity of man meant nothing against the amazing grace of God. I would not be able to do anything for Toby. My only hope was that at least Toby understood that God loved him no matter what. I also understood that I needed grace as much as Toby.