I think you hit on one of the great conundrums of police work. It required the body of a young man, but the wisdom of someone much older.
Sniper,
I couldn't agree more with that statement. I became a cop as a second career. I had been in the Coast Guard for 26 years and was in my mid 40's. I had learned a lot about dealing with people and difficult situations in my first career. It made dealing with those issues as a cop, much easier. It was experience and wisdom my younger counterparts didn't have. It wasn't their fault but you can only learn so much in 25-30 years. I don't know if I could have done the job at that age. I certainly didn't have the patience then that I do now. There's a lot to be said for youth though and it is a young mans job, physically. On my 50th birthday, I did 50 pushups, 50 sit-ups and ran 5 miles in 40 minutes. I've done it on my birthday every year since. I figure as long as I can keep that up, I'm ok. But there's no way I want to be on the street beyond 60. By then, I'm pretty sure I will have had enough.
