The Call to Service

Kenneth recounts how he was drawn into policing, "I grew up in a small suburban town in northwest New Jersey. As a young boy, I always dreamed of becoming a police officer. I suspect it had something to do with when I was about three years old and my mom was forced to call the police to handle a very dangerous situation. My father had died about a year previously, leaving her to raise four children. One of us kids must have unwittingly left a window open because a bat had gotten into the house and was flying around. With the whole household screaming, my mom called the people you call when you do not know who else to call – the police. They responded and a young female officer bludgeoned that poor bat to death. Whether or not this use of force was justified, I did not know, but there was one thing that was eminently clear from this police encounter. The police rescued my family and restored order during a chaotic and tumultous time in our lives. This was the experience that inspired one of the two best decisions I made in my life: to marry my wife and to join the NYPD."