I had coffee yesterday with my friend, Sgt. Huy Nguyen, the president of the Oakland Police Officers Association. He had just returned from a memorial service for the four Oakland cops who were slain in the line of duty on March 21, 2009, by a convicted felon who was wanted at that time for a parole violation.
Sgt. Nguyen had just spoken at the annual memorial service, and was still in his dark suit and tie. His mood was somber. It was clear that he wanted to talk and I was honored that he trusted me to hear.
I won’t go into detail of what Sgt. Nguyen shared with me. Suffice it to say his heart was aching. He worked with and was friends with all four of the martyred officers. After a while he described to me how rapidly OPD is losing cops and how uncertain the future of law enforcement in Oakland may be if this trend isn’t reversed. Some police departments, like San Francisco’s, get a lot of applications when they have officer vacancies, but not Oakland; everybody knows how difficult it is to be an OPD officer, what with the low morale and constant insults from the anti-police faction, not to mention the risks.
I share Sgt. Nguyen’s frustration to the extent that I, a civilian, am able. He always says how we, as a society, need to go beyond our differences and find common ground. But I’ll speak for myself: These cop haters are deplorable. Truly the scum of the earth. While Black and Brown people are killed all around, they spread the hideous lie that “all cops are bastards,” even when cops are the only ones running into the community to protect it when the bullets are flying. They continue to call for defunding the police, as the racist, Cat Brooks, shamelessly does to this day. Cop haters are deliberate participants in the destruction of Oakland. I wish for just one moment each of them could walk in a cop’s shoes and see and feel the terrible, awful responsibility and risk that fall on their shoulders each time they don the uniform. But then, these people are not worthy even to shine a cop’s shoes.
Here’s a poem cited by OPD from the California Police Officer Memorial in Sacramento:
I never dreamed it would be me, My name for all eternity.
Recorded here at the hallowed place, Alas, my name, no more my face.
“In the line of duty” I hear them say, My family now the price to pay.
My folded flag stained with their tears, We only had those few short years.
The badge no longer on my chest, I sleep now in eternal rest.
My sword I pass to those behind, And pray they keep this thought in mind.
I never dreamed it would be me, And with heavy heart and bended knee,
I ask for all here from the past, Dear God let my name be the last.
Steve Heimoff