‘Just the facts, ma’am’

ROCKWALL, TX (Jan. 1, 2015) I can remember countless hours spent as a kid in my pajamas in front of the “boob tube,” as my mother would call it, watching all my childhood Hollywood heroes. And those heroes of mine always had one thing in common – they were all public servants.

There was nothing better than to watch Sgt. Joe Friday interrogate a suspect or T.J. Hooker get into a massive foot chase, followed up by a high speed motorcycle pursuit from Officers John and Ponch. And let’s not forget Emergency!, where I always wondered why those crazy firemen would rush into those fires while the cops would pull up in the patrol cars and block off the intersections; I guess it boiled down to I thought cop cars were “cooler” than fire trucks, but God bless our firemen!

But my admiration for the man in uniform grew beyond the television set. As a kid I always remember going to the mall with my parents and I would see a police officer, and I would always ask my mother if I could go shake their hands, or I would perk up when my dad drove by an officer on a traffic stop or working an accident; it was just something about that shiny badge, that “piece” on his hip, the black leather belt with all that “stuff” on it, the red and blue lights on the marked car – I thought it was the best.

And then when I was 18, I went on my first real life ride out, and it was settled after that. I wanted to be a police officer, more than anything in the world, and I set my sights on that goal. But, after I became an officer, reality set in. I soon came to realize that interrogating a suspect didn’t always go as smooth as Sgt. Friday’s did, and usually the crimes were much more gruesome and perverted than the car burglar on the TV. And you know what else? Foot chases didn’t usually end with the suspect giving up and being handcuffed, and my uniform wasn’t still spotlessly pressed and my hair still in place like T.J.’s was. Car chases ended in fatalities and sometimes ended with the bad guy actually getting away. That wasn’t supposed to happen now was it?

My point is this: Being a Hollywood cop and a real police officer maybe grossly different, but the TV Police Officer still molded in me what the core values of being in law enforcement was all about, and that was serving and protecting and bringing the bad guys to justice, and doing all of the above with pride and honor.

As I advanced through my career, those TV heroes were replaced by real life officers. Those officers, those friends of mine that lost their lives wearin’ that badge; those veteran cops that took the time to give a young rookie officer advice instead of avoiding me because I was so gung ho I couldn’t see straight, and also my peers, who have had my back through countless dangerous encounters. Those guys are my heroes now. And after 24 years of service, I have tried to be that same type of mentor to countless young officers as well.

As the years have gone by I still find myself flipping through the channels on a Saturday morning or lying in bed at night, and I always stop down when I come across old reruns of my favorite cop shows. But now I giggle on the inside when I watch a massive shootout between the cops and the bad guys and the only thing that gets hit with a bullet is the gun in the hand of the bad guy. Wow, that’s funny, I think to myself, as I reach over on the night stand and turn off the lamp, and take a glance at that pair of uniform pants I have framed and hanging on the wall, the ones with the bullet hole through the pants leg.

I should have been Batman or the Six Million Dollar man, I think to myself, as I stare at the back of my eyelids and fall to sleep with a childish grin on my face.

By Lt. Andrew G. Hawkes, a 24-year police veteran. After graduating from Rockwall High School in 1989, he began his career in Rockwall law enforcement and is currently Lieutenant of Community Services for the Collin County Sheriff’s office. Lt. Hawkes has worked in patrol, K9, investigations, narcotics and highway interdiction.

An author and instructor, he holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Dallas Baptist University and is a graduate of the Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas. He is pursuing a Master’s degree in Justice Leadership and Administration from the University of Texas at Dallas. He has earned state and local awards, including the Medal of Valor.

He lives in Rockwall with his wife Tammy, and is a member of the Rockwall Lion’s Club and Lake Pointe Church.