There is one thing that few people truly understand the feeling of. Law enforcement and soldiers know the feeling well. That is, the collective heart drop. We had such a day a few days ago that caused one.
That day was like any other day. Everyone completing tier checks, paperwork, and preparing for shift change. Then, it happens. A call over the radio that there is a fight in a particular unit and two officers are down. At this point, we have very little info other than two officers being down. We are a family here so when the call comes that two officers are down, two family members are down. That is what I call the collective heart drop. When everyone feels their hearts drop in their chest.
We have response teams to respond to any emergency, including fights. If you are not on the response team, you are NOT to respond. Do you have any idea of how hard it is to continue on like normal and not be able to run over to defend our own? It's tough. It's something that very few outside of law enforcement or military will ever understand.
In the end, it turned out the officers were only slightly injured and didn't even have to go to the hospital. Such a relief to us all. Nevertheless, for those that have never felt that heart drop until that day, I have a feeling that it won't easily be forgotten.
