People seem to think that what they hear about on the news is the entirety of what happens in a given place. Here is the reality.... you only hear about it when things go wrong. The rest of the incidents, which worked out the way we wanted them to, are way too boring for the news and you never hear about them. We are 52 days into the new year and my little department, with 8 patrol deputies, has handled 1,203 calls for service and self initiated incidents. Most of what we do are self-initiated incidents; meaning we are out actively finding and initiating these events ourselves rather than being called to them. It's being pro-active.
One of my favorite parables comes out of the preface to one of the editions of The Art of War that I own. I will paraphrase it here:
It seems that the Emperor of China had a personal physician. The Emperor asked him if he was the only doctor in his family or if his brothers also practiced medicine. The doctor replied that he had two brothers who were also physicians.
He said, "My oldest brother can detect and cure disease before it even enters into a village. No one ever gets sick and so no one has ever heard of him. Additionally, he makes very little money because the people do not believe they have any need of him.
My next brother can detect and cure a disease immediately after it enters into a house. A few people have heard of him. As for me, I mix potions and perform surgeries and save the lives of many sick people. Because of this, I am one of the most famous physicians in all of China."
So here's my question, which doctor would like prefer living in your village?
You never hear about the times we take a violent, wanted felon off the streets (at gunpoint - but don't shoot him) because that's not interesting. You never hear about us stopping the car, with two thugs that just got out of prison in it, while it was slowly driving around your neighborhood. You don't hear about it, but it sends a message to the bad guys. They know we're hunting for them - and even if we don't have reason to take them to jail, just encountering us sends a message to them... and they go somewhere else.
Here are a few of my favorite quotes on the matter...
- "Therefore one who is good at martial arts overcomes others’ forces without battle, conquers others’ cities without siege, destroys others’ nations without taking a long time." The Art of War
- "Deep knowledge is to be aware of disturbance before disturbance, to be aware of danger before danger, to be aware of destruction before destruction, to be aware of calamity before calamity. Strong action is training the body without being burdened by the body, exercising the mind without being used by the mind, working in the world without being affected by the world, carrying out tasks without being obstructed by tasks. By deep knowledge of principle, one can change disturbance into order, change danger into safety, change destruction into survival, change calamity into fortune." - The Book of Balance and Harmony
- "Those who are skilled in combat do not become angered, those who are skilled at winning do not become afraid. Thus the wise win before they fight, while the ignorant fight to win." - The Art of War
- "To sense and comprehend after action is not worthy of being called comprehension. To accomplish after striving is not worthy of being called accomplishment. To know after seeing is not worthy of being called knowing. These three are far from the way of sensing and response. Indeed, to be able to do something before it exists, sense something before it becomes active, see something before it sprouts, are three abilities that develop interdependently. Then nothing is sensed but is comprehended, nothing is undertaken without response, nowhere does one go without benefit." - The Book of Balance and Harmony
In conclusion, all is not well in Zion... but we are trying to keep the bad stuff from spilling over into your lives. The better we are at that task, the less you will hear about it.
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