Hoagland's Essay, Heaven And Nature As A Police Officer

Being a police officer you are put in many stressful situations. Each day seems to have its own unique set of problems to deal with. No two radio calls that I have been dispatched have been the same. There is always some type of variation. When you get put in different calls you have to learn to make decisions quickly. You get seconds to make a decision and your bosses get as long as they want to evaluate the decision. This is why it is important to think quickly and think correctly. One moment of lapse in judgment can cause you to lose your job or even worse someone can get hurt.

When on calls it is important to debrief after every call. Not only is each call different but each officer tends to have a different perspective on how

I am not a fan of the topic of suicide. I feel that in general we need to figure this out and quickly. As I read others takes on suicide I have been noticing a pattern. I’ve learned there are two pretty opposite takes on it. It only seems silly to those who have not had to deal with these types of problems. My life experiences do not match up with the experiences of others. My perceptions are not always reality. I still cannot ignore how I feel about it though. I feel that suicide is a cowardly way to handle your problems. No matter how bad it gets I cannot see a reason to end your own life and to punish others. In Hoagland 's essay he stated, "Many suicides inflict outrageous trauma, burning permanent injuries in the minds of their children." (Heaven and Nature, Pg. 212) I have never been so stressed that I felt like I needed to end my own life but I also have never had to battle with mental illnesses. I wonder how many people who commit suicide have a mental illness. We seem to only care when someone has committed suicide instead of fixing the problem beforehand. I feel that most people who commit suicide typically struggle not only with their underlining issue but they also struggle with the contemplation and attempts at suicide. I have come across many people who have attempted to commit suicide and I get to hear their story. Most of the time as they are in their ambulance they start to talk. Most of the time they say that they did not want to be successful, they just wanted to see how close they could get and if they could handle it. This is disturbing to me because it almost feels like they are practicing. I feel that in reality they are not practicing but they want to know what it feels like. Another thing I wonder is how many suicides were