First, I’ll admit to a slight initial dislike of cops. The reason is familiarity, and not germain to my posting here. And I can get over it as I get to know the cop.
We tend to make a big deal of it when cops and firemen die on the job. But these occupations don’t even make the top ten in dangerous ways to make a living. That would be lumberjacks and fisherfolks.
When a worker gets killed, the local community will usually gather around the family for a while, but when a cop dies, the support to the family is, or can be, lifelong. That’s good, but what about the electricians and construction workers and such? Are their families no less deserving?
That’s my opinion.
Peace,
mangeorge
Well, I think the difference is that cops and firemen put themselves in positions where they could be killed for the purpose of protecting the lives of other citizens. Other people that may be killed at work don’t go to work with the intent to risk their lives for the direct benefit of others.
Unless “direct benefit” includes getting served a crab cake at a restaurant.
I agree with RR–cops and firefighters willfully put themselves in danger because if they didn’t, the fabric of society would slowly fall apart. A lumberjack’s death is certainly tragic in its own right, but the stakes of not having that job filled (slightly less paper) aren’t quite as severe.
The cops that I’ve known (a small sample i’ll admit) do not go to work with the intent to risk their lives at all. They do know the risk is there, but they also know that that risk is relatively small. Most do it because they like the job. Even nowadays most cops never fire their guns except at the range.
Anyway, I’m not questioning the cops and firefighters so much as I am the community.
Too much tv, I suspect. 
They’re easy heroes. And we like our heroes, especially when they’re gloriously set against a backdrop of violent struggle (whether crime or fire, whether real or imagined).
Make a good Hollywood hero out of anyone in any ol’ profession and I assure you there will be an outpouring of support from around the world.
I agree with the question.
Two stationary engineers lost their lives on 9/11. They could have stayed out of the buildings. But both went back into their buildings to help get people out. Did not even make the news. the only reason I know about it the story was in the union paper.
Also what town or city was the home of the last service man to loose his life? It is just a number. Are there any public funds set up for the family?
I don’t know about lumberjacks but Fisher folk are putting their asses on the line because they see $$ signs. For two or three months of work they can earn a whole years salary.
So basicaly, people risking their ass for a profit is not so admirable as it is when cops put their ass on the line because they want to serve the public. Lord knows they certainly don’t do it for the money.
But let’s not bullshit ourselves. There is a large number of cops out there who do what they do simply because they are thrill seekers. They got that high threshold thing psychiatrists are always talking about.
But it’s not for us to decide which cops do it for the humanity and which cops do it for the thrill. (or both)
As said, it’s because they risk their lives to protect the public, especially in the case of firefighters.
Wasn’t there a Supreme Court ruling that stated that it is not the duty of the police to do just that? Second Ammendment proponents (gun owners) often bring it up in their arguements supporting personal gun ownership.
The building [trans: construction] industry is the top killer here, with an infamous safety record. Much of the ‘Health & Safety’ nonsense which has buggered up the workplace in recent years has been generated by this.
No idea. My experience is with Canada only.
Well, but the police are still in a situation that entails risk on the job, whether it’s their duty or not. Anyway whatever motivation the cops and firemen themselves have, it feels the same to their families, who are really the ones we’re talking about here. They live with a dangerous occupation that they didn’t choose, and they’re the ones who need the support when their spouse or parent gets killed. They’re the ones who always have that worry in the backs of their minds.
We are friends with a police guy and his wife, and she’s told me that she hopes her children don’t marry cops. Her husband is a wonderful guy and all, it’s not that, but the life is difficult. She also says that they have a law-enforcement family, that there’s a strong bond with other families in the same situation because of the shared way of life. They support each other a lot all the time, not just when someone gets killed.
I would hope that lumberjacks’ and fishermens’ families support each other in the same way, but that’s up to them.
Someone should explain to them that they’re lucky. Their spouses could be in a much more dangerous occupation, like lineman or fisher or iron worker or lumberjack or something. For me, the scariest job would be ironworker. Then lineman.
From many substance fueled discussions with cops, I can tell you that the worst part of their job, by a long shot, is boredom. That, and depression. Lots of divorce, don’t know why for sure.
There are a lot more cops than in the other professions discussed here. Maybe that’s part of it, exposure.
Well while you’re at it, why not some guy in an insurance company who has a heart attack at work? Or a truck driver who is killed in a car accident?
Cops and firemen are generally killed doing something heroic - fighting crime or running into a burning building to save someone. Lumberjacks die because someone wasn’t watching what they were doing.
So are you lucky, you don’t live in North Korea. shrug You can say that to anyone, and it doesn’t generally solve whatever problem they’re dealing with. I’ve never met a cop’s wife who said she had the worst deal in the universe, just that the life comes with certain difficulties.
Oh well, worse things happen at sea.
I agree, why not?
I don’t know about (big?) buildings, but much of running into burning houses is done by neighbors, often kids. A lot of the times I’ve seen on the news about motorists pulling others out of burning cars. Trying to save anothers life, even at one’s own peril, is instinct. Ask anyone who’s done it.
You’ll not find anywhere here where I’ve said anything negative about cops and firefighters. It’s just that we all have our place in society, and I have trouble declaring one more valuable, more worthy than another.
Knowing the truth, rather than what’s brewing in a spouses imagination, certainly can ease their worries.
That’s ok, others are willing to do that for you.
Farmer is way high up there on the list of most dangerous jobs, IIRC. They ought to get extra credit for feeding us.
Hmmm, which would society crumble faster without? Farmers, cops, or firemen? I vote farmers.
Sure, cops and firemen put themselves in positions where they could be killed for the purpose of protecting the lives of others, but the big question is “WHY do they put themselves in positions where they could be killed for the purpose of protecting the lives of others?”
A misguided sense of civic duty? The thrill of facing their own mortality on a daily basis? The subconcious need to be seen as a ‘hero’? The adrenaline rush? In the case of some cops, the power of being able to salve their insecurities by being a government-sanctioned bully? The chicks?
Cops and firefighters have as much free will as anyone else; it’s not like they were forced to take these jobs. It’s sad that have such a crappy job, but I can’t say that I feel any different about the loss of a cop or firefighter than I do for lumberjacks, cab drivers, convenience-store clerks, coal miners or any other group that happens to have a crappy—and potentially fatal—job.
The deaths of cops and firefighters are honored for the same reasons the lives of soldiers are. They died in the line of duty. These guys don’t have to be cops, they could just as easily have been something more mundane like construction worker, salesmen, or maybe even have gone on to college (or, for the ones with degrees, to better paying jobs related to their education.)
It’s true that some do it out of a love for action and thill-seeking and some out of a sense of civic duty or even an (un)justified dislike for certain elements of society - either criminals or immigrants. But they all serve, and they all know the risks of going on patrol, but they all still go out there and do their jobs.
Every death is tragic, no one should have to die at work for any reason. The deaths of all public servants are honored and remembered not because they simply died but because they died - and devoted their career to - serving society.