[Jcordell]

Couple of weeks ago I had to arrest a veteran for hitting his wife. The guy survived a tour each in Afghanistan and Iraq. He has an 80% disability. He's been diagnosed with PTSD and other physical injuries. But domestic battery is against the law and the circumstances surrounding the battery required me to take action.

He had a Mossberg Cruiser loaded with OO Buck in his bedroom when we got there. He was peaceful and went along quietly. Nice enough guy, but I knew about the shotgun on the way to his house. We talked on the way to the jail and we got along. But what happens if things go bad again after a few months and we have to go back. Only this time he isn't feeling so hospitable?

No solution and no suggestions. Just something I experienced a couple weeks ago. More and more of those men and women are going to be in our world and they will be a real presence for the next forty some years. Most of them will be fine and do their best to get on with their lives. We already have a few vets as officers with my department and they're great people.

My dad is a Vietnam veteran and started in law enforcment in 1970. Cops in the 70's and 80's found themselves having contact with many vets. They were always a presence during those twenty some years. Most were fine, but a few had issues.

Now I have a whole range of tools available to me in 2010 that dad did not have in 1974. Back then a cop had his straight stick, sap/blackjack, maybe tear gas and his sidearm. Also they didn't have the training and resources available to me and my fellow officers today. I've been able to prevent more than one inccident from going deadly thanks to my Taser, Pepper Spray, and handheld radio for example and we understand what the vets are going through. Back in the early seventies alot of the cops who were vets were from WWII and Korea and actually weren't all that sympathetic to the Vietnam guys. Probably effected they way they dealt with them at times. Just a guess though.

This time around things seem to be a little smoother. The country as a whole seems to treating the vets better. Big improvement over what my father and his fellow vets got when they came home. Certainly can't hurt at least.

Oh a sidenote here. It's been my experience that most vets are fairly easy to work with. The conditioning that one gets from the military (I include myself here even though I was a peactime soldier) makes one more affable to authority and rank. Most vets also tend to support the cops. They see us a cousin of sorts. And that's fine with me. I'll use any advantage I can to avoid violence.

Anyway just my two cents. This ,uh, situation isn't going to go away anytime soon.