The Badge: Thoughts from a State Trooper

Rating:
Summary: Cops are People Too!
Review: Cops are People, Too!
By John De Haven

Happily, it's still possible to find your way to a good book now and then. And once in a while you can get lucky, and a good book will just sort of find its way to you. That's what just happened to me!

We've all heard the jaded expression "You can't put it down." You know what I mean. You sometimes get that feeling of connection with the author or with the story (or both!) and adjust your posture, reload your beverage and maybe sink a little deeper into the couch with the welcome and soothing thought: "This is good. This just feels good. He's talking to me here, and I can tell I'm gonna like this." With some good books, it can happen early on. Sometimes, if it is to happen at all, it can take a little longer.

In Jim Geeting's new one, "The Badge - Thoughts from a State Trooper," (McKenna Publishing Group) it happened to me in the first few seconds. No, I don't mean somewhere in the first chapter; it happened earlier than that. I didn't get any farther than the dedication where the author acknowledges his beautiful wife and young sons before I had a tear in my eye and solid confidence in my certainty that Jim's book was going to be a pleasure.

Here, in the dedication, Geeting speaks to his sons, saying in part:

You took a cop's blackened soul
And taught it the joy of wrestling, giggles and unconditional love
Of camp outs, good jokes and the wonder in a bug or a rock.
Of the hero I could be - simply by being a good dad
I dreamed of you both, long before God sent you.

Oh, yeah? Please pass the Kleenex!

Author Geeting is a veteran cop, a trooper with the Wyoming Highway Patrol. For some time he has written a column, "The Badge," which appears regularly in largest circulation newspapers in Wyoming. Bearing the same title, his book is a digest of some of Jim's (and his publisher's, no doubt) favorites from among a couple years' worth of these columns. Whether sorting out broken cars and bodies at the scene of a wreck, lecturing those who might choose to drink and drive or fail to buckle up, or basking in the pleasures of the school spelling bee or in any of the many places and experiences in between, each savory nugget in the banquet of a cop's and a family man's life can be consumed in barely a minute or two. But like the best of Thanksgiving feasts, the pleasure derived has a way of lasting.

Trust me. The reading is the easy part. It's the pondering of the practical simplicity of this cop's ways and wisdom that brings the reward. Indeed, the digesting and enjoying of the nearly 75 columns included in his book (yes, I counted!) represent a much more touching and longer-lasting experience.

Early on, I had the good luck to recognize Geeting's anthology was, for me anyway, really something of a confession... a generous slice of the "stuff" of law enforcement we on the outside always want to know - not what happens in the legislature or in meetings when the brass get together but, rather, the stuff that unfolds or (on a bad day) explodes out there in the street. Easily, modestly, credibly and with a refreshing clarity, Geeting conveys his genuine love and respect -- both for his chosen profession and for his colleagues and brethren within it. Most often citing examples from his lengthy experience behind the badge, he invites us to see it from his side.

And there, on the inside, we are offered this good cop's view of many of the familiar and not-so-familiar facts, routines, surprises, fears and follies that conspire to make the on-duty life of a law enforcement officer so exciting, interesting, satisfying, humorous, rewarding, dangerous, at times sickening, heart breaking, misunderstood, under-appreciated, frustrating, occasionally frightening, and yet always so absolutely essential to our safety and the quality of life most of us enjoy every day.

Still, that's only part of why I'm lucky "The Badge - Thoughts from a State Trooper" found its way to me. Jim Geeting is much more than the stereotypical policeman. He is also the perfect blend of hard-hearted cop, all business and always steeled against publicly showing feelings or emotion, and the kind of family man that you and I wish we could be, adoring and adored by his wife and children. In one particularly memorable vignette, Geeting describes how his wife and (now teenage) sons are both his motivation and his satisfaction, in the end acknowledging: "They and our home are not the reason for my armor, they are my armor."

In fact, I'm not certain whether this new book is more about a humble and devoted and decent citizen, a family man who happens to be a cop or about a cop who is still married to his first wife and who views his role as a father and husband as the most important and satisfying in his or anybody's life. That's not to suggest it matters; it doesn't. Time and again, the insights into each are presented with a persuasive and almost irresistible clarity and candor.

I promise you... Jim Geeting will grab hold of your heart, too! Many of his commentaries, brief though they may be individually, favor readers with a look at this "other" side where he reveals his gentle nature, his appealing yet hair trigger sensitivity, his vulnerability and his extraordinary love of and desire to protect children. His recognition of and determination to preserve as best he can the innocence and ultimate worthiness of every child, is a subject visited several times in "The Badge's" 130 pages.

So get comfortable, be sure the Kleenex is nearby and pick up "The Badge - Thoughts from a State Trooper." You'll catch Jim Geeting's message all right. Or it'll catch you!

And when you're finished reading this one, don't take it to the book barrel at church. Put it on the shelf by your easy chair or atop the magazine pile in the pearl room. Keep it nearby. You'll want to read it again.

I did.

Rating:
Summary: Cops are People Too!
Review: Cops are People, Too!
By John De Haven

Happily, it's still possible to find your way to a good book now and then. And once in a while you can get lucky, and a good book will just sort of find its way to you. That's what just happened to me!

We've all heard the jaded expression "You can't put it down." You know what I mean. You sometimes get that feeling of connection with the author or with the story (or both!) and adjust your posture, reload your beverage and maybe sink a little deeper into the couch with the welcome and soothing thought: "This is good. This just feels good. He's talking to me here, and I can tell I'm gonna like this." With some good books, it can happen early on. Sometimes, if it is to happen at all, it can take a little longer.

In Jim Geeting's new one, "The Badge - Thoughts from a State Trooper," (McKenna Publishing Group) it happened to me in the first few seconds. No, I don't mean somewhere in the first chapter; it happened earlier than that. I didn't get any farther than the dedication where the author acknowledges his beautiful wife and young sons before I had a tear in my eye and solid confidence in my certainty that Jim's book was going to be a pleasure.

Here, in the dedication, Geeting speaks to his sons, saying in part:

You took a cop's blackened soul
And taught it the joy of wrestling, giggles and unconditional love
Of camp outs, good jokes and the wonder in a bug or a rock.
Of the hero I could be - simply by being a good dad
I dreamed of you both, long before God sent you.

Oh, yeah? Please pass the Kleenex!

Author Geeting is a veteran cop, a trooper with the Wyoming Highway Patrol. For some time he has written a column, "The Badge," which appears regularly in largest circulation newspapers in Wyoming. Bearing the same title, his book is a digest of some of Jim's (and his publisher's, no doubt) favorites from among a couple years' worth of these columns. Whether sorting out broken cars and bodies at the scene of a wreck, lecturing those who might choose to drink and drive or fail to buckle up, or basking in the pleasures of the school spelling bee or in any of the many places and experiences in between, each savory nugget in the banquet of a cop's and a family man's life can be consumed in barely a minute or two. But like the best of Thanksgiving feasts, the pleasure derived has a way of lasting.

Trust me. The reading is the easy part. It's the pondering of the practical simplicity of this cop's ways and wisdom that brings the reward. Indeed, the digesting and enjoying of the nearly 75 columns included in his book (yes, I counted!) represent a much more touching and longer-lasting experience.

Early on, I had the good luck to recognize Geeting's anthology was, for me anyway, really something of a confession... a generous slice of the "stuff" of law enforcement we on the outside always want to know - not what happens in the legislature or in meetings when the brass get together but, rather, the stuff that unfolds or (on a bad day) explodes out there in the street. Easily, modestly, credibly and with a refreshing clarity, Geeting conveys his genuine love and respect -- both for his chosen profession and for his colleagues and brethren within it. Most often citing examples from his lengthy experience behind the badge, he invites us to see it from his side.

And there, on the inside, we are offered this good cop's view of many of the familiar and not-so-familiar facts, routines, surprises, fears and follies that conspire to make the on-duty life of a law enforcement officer so exciting, interesting, satisfying, humorous, rewarding, dangerous, at times sickening, heart breaking, misunderstood, under-appreciated, frustrating, occasionally frightening, and yet always so absolutely essential to our safety and the quality of life most of us enjoy every day.

Still, that's only part of why I'm lucky "The Badge - Thoughts from a State Trooper" found its way to me. Jim Geeting is much more than the stereotypical policeman. He is also the perfect blend of hard-hearted cop, all business and always steeled against publicly showing feelings or emotion, and the kind of family man that you and I wish we could be, adoring and adored by his wife and children. In one particularly memorable vignette, Geeting describes how his wife and (now teenage) sons are both his motivation and his satisfaction, in the end acknowledging: "They and our home are not the reason for my armor, they are my armor."

In fact, I'm not certain whether this new book is more about a humble and devoted and decent citizen, a family man who happens to be a cop or about a cop who is still married to his first wife and who views his role as a father and husband as the most important and satisfying in his or anybody's life. That's not to suggest it matters; it doesn't. Time and again, the insights into each are presented with a persuasive and almost irresistible clarity and candor.

I promise you... Jim Geeting will grab hold of your heart, too! Many of his commentaries, brief though they may be individually, favor readers with a look at this "other" side where he reveals his gentle nature, his appealing yet hair trigger sensitivity, his vulnerability and his extraordinary love of and desire to protect children. His recognition of and determination to preserve as best he can the innocence and ultimate worthiness of every child, is a subject visited several times in "The Badge's" 130 pages.

So get comfortable, be sure the Kleenex is nearby and pick up "The Badge - Thoughts from a State Trooper." You'll catch Jim Geeting's message all right. Or it'll catch you!

And when you're finished reading this one, don't take it to the book barrel at church. Put it on the shelf by your easy chair or atop the magazine pile in the pearl room. Keep it nearby. You'll want to read it again.

I did.

Rating:
Summary: everyone needs to read this book
Review: Thank you, Trooper Geeting - you made me realize why I got into this profession - and why I need to stay. You also showed many of our "customers" a side that is rarely seen. Keep up the good work!

Rating:
Summary: everyone needs to read this book
Review: Thank you, Trooper Geeting - you made me realize why I got into this profession - and why I need to stay. You also showed many of our "customers" a side that is rarely seen. Keep up the good work!