Guarding families: Hazardous occupation

James Sherman

The plight of kids in this country continues to be serious business. This really took on new dimensions for me recently when I spent an evening shift riding in a squad car. The community looks very different when you are traveling through alleys, flying at high speeds to head off a bar fight, or responding to the pleas of a family for help.

I thought of our workers and the families they touch when the officer I was with responded to a call where the daughter was high on cocaine and alcohol. The mother was crying and was tired of the fight. They just wanted the daughter to leave “take some clothes and go to a friend's. They were very tired. We were called to a home where a gang symbol had been painted on the house. The family was angry and frightened. They don’t understand these kids today! They felt violated that someone would walk up to their house and put their signature on it. Had they tried to break in? Did this mean they would be back? They would have their gun ready.

The night wore on. The prostitutes on the corner waved to us. The wino we were called to pick up had been removed from the overnight shelter because he was drunk. He had wet his pants. He was incoherent He proclaimed his sobriety and would the officer please take him to jail because he was cold. The calls continued. More families. More heartbreak. Few solutions. Pleas for help. The streets got dark. The alleys did not seem so benign.

The young officer pointed to a house where he delivers medications because the lady is unable to get out. He had one more stop before the end of his shift. He saw a wheelchair at the top of some stairs leading to the lower level of a downtown building. He shined his light down and peering out from under the rags and folded-up boxes being used for warmth was an old man. He was settled for the night. The officer knew him and knew he had a broken leg. He just wanted to be sure he was okay, that he hadn’t fallen down the stairs.

I was incredibly impressed by this 22-year-old policeman. What a responsibility he carries. During my drive home I was thinking about our workers and your workers and their quiet accomplishments. They, too, are on the streets, in these homes, and being looked to for solutions. I had a brief encounter with what we ask of them every day.

We have not given them an easy job. It requires compassion, courage, and commitment. We ask them to go into very difficult and sometimes frightening family situations. The element of risk always haunts them.

I am humbled by what you are accomplishing in your agencies and in your communities. Like the young police officer, your caring is constant and your contributions are unheralded. The kids and families you serve will remember.

My admiration for all of you has grown many fold. Children and children's issues are in good hands.

This feature: an excerpt from the CWLA publication Children's Voice, May 1969