As the saying goes, we all put our pants on one leg at a time. However, in our profession, after the pants comes the uniform shirt adorned with patches and a badge that identifies us as peacekeepers and somebody who is willing to put him/herself in harm’s way to protect your life and property.
In addition, under that uniform shirt, we strap on a bulletproof vest. Think about that just for a moment — an occupation that requires you to wear such a vest.
As police officers, we made a promise when we took our oath of office to protect the U.S. Constitution, the constitution of the state of Illinois, to uphold the law, and to protect lives and property. The state made a promise via its constitution, the very constitution we swore to protect, to provide first responders with a pension upon honorable completion of their service.
