Ep. 49 I am welcoming 14-year-old Tyler from the Midwest.  He emailed me with a very important message about his hope to be a police officer. We recorded this interview a week before he started high school. And I did get permission from his mom!

In his email Tyler wrote, “Dear Abby, I'm a 14-year-old-boy from the Midwest. I absolutely love listening to your podcast. I plan one day to be a police officer. I was hoping you could share my story on your podcast. Last year, in eighth grade, we had a mandatory project. All of the eighth graders had to job shadow a profession that they were interested in. I ended up doing a ride-along with the nearby police department. I shadowed Patrol Officer Mullinex and I absolutely loved it.”

The result of our correspondence is this interview which I promise you will find heart warming and uplifting. We talk about the ride-along as well as the reasons he was drawn to law enforcement for his job shadow – as well as his initial interest in 911/Dispatch.

Tyler has insights that far exceed his 14 years. We agree on the value and importance of civilians doing ride-alongs to better understand the profession and to better appreciate the person behind the badge. He shares his frustration with the national negative environment for law enforcement and the impact that has on officers’ ability to do their jobs. He is not afraid to question others’ misconceptions and seek his own answers with an open mind. 

In talking with Tyler, I realized that most of my guests are already sworn officers. The perspective of someone considering the profession is a new topic and brings with it a host of questions, especially for someone this young. He talks about his concern over how people will react when he says he wants to be a police officer given the negative environment and wonders how to prepare for these interactions. Tyler also is interested in guidance from LEOs on decisions he will make moving forward including whether to go to college and what major to choose. And he shares his concerns about being hearing impaired and whether that will affect his ability to be in law enforcement.

Tyler welcomes your feedback. Here is an email he created for this episode [email protected]. (That’s for Ep. 49). Also feel free to email or message me on Instagram if you’d like to share your thoughts with me. [email protected].

I thought it would be meaningful to close the episode with a chat with Officer Mullenix about the ride-along, his admiration for Tyler and his hope that Tyler will pursue his dreams of law enforcement.  

As always thank you for listening to On Being a Police Officer. YOU are what keeps me going.

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