[~The Jester~]

I'm a professional firefighter, and consequently know a bunch of cops, in fact some of my best friends are cops. I run into situations that "normal" people run out of, for a living. Fires, medical calls with "body fluids" all over the place, Haz-Mat calls with a tanker of "Methyl-Ethyl-Death" spilled on the street.

You could not pay me enough money to be a cop.

What a crappy job. Disrespected by most of the general public, hated by some. Thankless hours spent training, interveining into domestic situations. Not knowing what that person in the driver's seat in front of the cruiser has in his lap. A gun? A beer? A knife? Chasing speeding drunks to make the streets safe for ME, hoping noone else gets hurt in the process. Trying to keep drugs and guns off the street so MY kid can walk to school safely. For what? So the media can flambe' you when that drunk you were chasing crashes into another car and kills someone innocent. Yet these men and women do their thankless jobs with such passion and vigor. It's certainly not for the pay. It's just the way they are.

Being a firefighter, I don't have it easy either. But I could never be a police officer. My close friend (who's a cop) and I had this argument over and over again, and I always ended it the same way.
I'd tell him this:

"When the cops show up, SOMEONE doesn't want you there. When the firefighter shows up, EVERYONE is glad to see him"

God's speed to all of the officers out there trying to keep this crazy world a safe place for US to live.