Today’s blog is going to be my last one for a few months. More than likely, I will not be posting any episodes at all during the summer but look forward to starting up again in the fall. I’m very sorry if this news is disappointing to you. It’s been a good run (over a year now), and I have sincerely enjoyed connecting with you on this level. I have appreciated your comments and feedback.

In a recent face-to-face conversation with one of my blog readers, I was asked if I was ever going to communicate any more police stories. This is not the only time, that particular issue has come up. It seems the general consensus is people like when I write about past patrol experiences. Even my six-year-old grandson repeatedly says to me, “Papa, can you tell me another police story?”

I know the spiritual side of you really wants to learn something fresh about the Bible, and you absolutely love when I weave the scripture into a human-interest story (LOL). However, for the sake of those who have been secretly holding out for another police story, I’ll end the current blog run that way...

I was on patrol in the south end of the precinct, working afternoons. I was the passenger in a two-man scout car, randomly entering license plates into the vehicle computer. This is something my partner and I did all during our shift whenever we could, attempting to locate felony or stolen vehicles.

On this particular occasion, after checking the plate of the car directly in front of us, the computer lit up like a Christmas tree. The car had been reported stolen that morning; it was taken some time during the night. I put on the overhead, flashing police lights, added the siren for a little atmosphere, and motioned the driver (lone occupant in the car) to the curb. A moment later, we were off to the races.

Since I was the passenger, I notified the dispatcher of our location along with the license plate and description of the car. Per usual, it was a pretty short vehicular chase—just a few blocks, then into the alley, where the driver bailed out. I exited the scout car to pursue on foot, and my partner sped away in the scout car to try and cut him off. When the bad guy saw I was hot on his trail, and my partner was coming at him in the scout car from the opposite direction, he stopped running, put his hands up, and surrendered. We placed him under arrest without incident.

Back at the station, the 16-year-old driver of the stolen vehicle said he didn’t steal the car. He said someone else dropped it off near his house, and he was just driving around in it. He didn’t know who stole it. A criminal history check revealed the driver we arrested didn’t have a prior police record at all. He said he had never been arrested before, never been in trouble with the police, and only got into the car to try to impress his girlfriend. His story was believable.

The compassionate (not naive) side of me kicked in, and I hesitated to charge him with UDAA (unauthorized driving away of an automobile). My instincts told me he was not a bad guy, and I didn’t want one wrong choice to mess him up. That’s when he mentioned to me that he knew someone in his neighborhood who had a stolen DPD portable police radio, and he could get it back. Immediately I told my supervisor, and we agreed to the exchange—the police radio for a get-out-of-jail-free card.

I cut the stolen-car driver loose without charging him, and he delivered. (Of course we were monitoring him.) Later on that afternoon, he walked the stolen police radio into the station. Believe it or not, we got our radio back, and that made all of us very happy—especially the big boss.

The following day at roll call, my supervisor showed me his daily planner. Next to my name was a small circle made with a red pen. The red circle was next to Friday’s date. He said, “Just so you know, you’re off on Friday.”

When I told him I was scheduled to work Friday, he said, “Not any more—you have a ‘dot day’ coming.” He went on to explain that my dot day was an unscheduled, free day off from work for getting that stolen police radio back. I didn’t have to work on Friday, and I was still going to get paid. As you might imagine, I was beside myself.

Do you have any idea who also loves passing out “dot days?” That’s right, God does. God loves to reward us when we go above and beyond the call of “spiritual duty.” When we honor the Lord that way, we can humbly expect the Lord to favor us with His blessing.

Hebrews 11:6

Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.

Colossians 3:23-24

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

1 Corinthians 15:58

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Galatians 6:9

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.