Death and the police

A lot of people hate the police for whatever reason. Whether it's because they've given them a ticket, stopped them from participating in illegal activities or just been genuinely annoying towards members of the public, police are really very unpopular.
Recently the dismembered body of Carmen Thomas was found in some bushland in Auckland, she'd been missing quite a while and pressumed dead but they didn't know when they'd finally find her.
The police worked very hard trying to find her and her killer, they followed leads, held press conferences, questioned suspects and tried their hardest to make sure Carmen got justice.
Because I dislike the police in general, I never really think about them as human beings with emotions or feelings.
When the detective in charge of the Carmen Thomas case found her or found out that she had been found, he held a press conference to announce it but had to cut it short for the fact he was feeling very emotional.
Any officers involved in the case will get trauma counselling also.
This was the first time I was really struck by the fact these people are PEOPLE, they're like you or I, they are traumatised by seeing the body of a dismembered woman, they are overcome with grief when dealing with victims' families and need help to try to get over the cases they have come across in their careers.
In New Zealand we don't have many murders so when we do have one, especially one as graphic as the Carmen Thomas murder, it must be hard for the people involved to handle. They're not used to it, and nor should they ever get used to it. The time you get used to seeing death and no longer feel anything for a dead person, is the time you should probably quit the force or get some form of help. Death by murder should always be a shock for humans. It is not natural for one human to kill another.
I guess my belief was always that police didn't care enough about people to feel anything when someone died or that they saw a lot of death so were able to seperate their feelings from the case.
It shocked me that the lead detective was close to tears when announcing they'd found Carmen, seeing him break down really hit home for me as to how fragile the police are. They're not super heroes, they're not made of steel, they're just average humans. I guess for me, this means next time a cop gives me a ticket, maybe I'll be less hard on them, they're just humans doing a job, it's not always a nice job but they got into it originally to help people and that's mostly what they're out there to do.

Another case where police were quite emotional was the death of toddler Aisling Symes this time last year.
It affected all of New Zealand really. She was an innocent little girl who wandered off and was missing for a few days before they found her body down a drain.
At the time I wrote a poem dedicated to her, I was so affected by her death. It really was a wake up call for all of New Zealand.
The police were and still are very affected by this death, they have families and children, young and old so they could all relate to how much a child means to a parent and the thought of losing their children broke their hearts.
The detective in charge of the case was as emotional as the rest of New Zealand when he announced the fact the little girl had been found.
The frailty of the police in this case was understandable as EVERYONE felt the same way, we were all devastated but the reaction of the police was still a little shocking because in society, we look to these people as pillars of strength so when they break down, we all feel a little shocked.
A plaque has recently been erected near where Aisling died, it says: "In remembrance of Aisling Celine Symes. Tragically lost near here on 5 October 2009. Loved greatly and mourned deeply. She touched a nation."
She really did touch a nation. We were all brought together by her death, whether you were a member of the police or just a regular citizen, the effect was the same.
At the time, both citizens and police were hoping and praying the girl would be found alive and well so the shock of her death caused collective heart break.

So basically the main message today is that police are human too, they may be bastards sometimes but they are just doing their jobs and they have the same feelings as any other human and graphic cases affect them the same as anyone else.

Varelai.