I recently spoke to a member of the LVMPD Explorers program and an aspiring future officer in this community. I asked this young man why he wanted to be a police officer. His response was: “Well, I have grown up in a cop family and I have always admired my dad, and when I watched certain events unfold here in my city I was amazed at how the officers with LVMPD handled each incident.” He mentioned 1 October, the UNLV shooting and the murder of Officer Truong Thai as the incidents that stick out in his mind.

He stated, “Forget about my dad being a police officer for a moment — I figured I want to do my part to help people.” I mentioned to him that we are only human and we can’t help everyone. He then stated, “My goal is to help one person and possibly change their life, and if I can help just one person or give them comfort, then I figure I will be doing a good job.”

These statements are coming from a 16-year-old young man who believes he can make a difference within his community. He did not mention wanting to drive a car really fast, shoot a gun or make a lot of money. The thing that stood out about our conversation is that he truly believes he can make a difference. I have to admit that it is refreshing to speak to a teenager who believes that and is willing to put in all the hard work to get to that point.

In this day and age, I do not think it is popular among young people to aspire to be an officer. When I tested for this Department 25 years ago, there were 500 people testing. I remember being on the track at Clark High School at 7 a.m. and then moving on to the written test. I spoke to a guy who informed me that it was his fifth time testing.

We are at a critical time in our society. Years ago, finding qualified candidates was easy. Now it has become more difficult due to the change in attitudes toward law enforcement. I can only hope that this younger generation really believes that they can make a difference in this world. It has become incumbent upon us to really explain to our kids the need for good people to do this job. A famous American once said, “Every society gets the kind of criminal it deserves. What is equally true is that every community gets the kind of law enforcement it insists on.”