On a recent afternoon, Saugerties Police Chief Joseph Sinagra sat inside his office and reflected on the start of his career in law enforcement.

“It seems like it was yesterday when I took those pictures and then I look at the dates and realize how long ago it was, 30-plus years, it’s mind boggling,” Sinagra said as he looked at some of the many pictures displayed on the wall. “I wanted to become a cop because of my dad, number one. He introduced that seed when I was a small child.”

New York State Police Captain Rob Appleton also followed his father into the field.

“It was very early on and a lot of my friends wanted to as well,” Appleton said. “The black shiny boots, the car in the driveway.”

A retired state trooper who now works as a firefighter in Saugerties, Stan O’Dell didn’t have any law enforcement officers in his family, but he says an encounter with State Police got him interested at a young age.

“The way they treated me with respect and that stuck with me,” he said.

Aside from being inspired by role models, each says they were driven by a desire to serve.

“I wanted to be one of those, I want to help others and be there for them,” O’Dell said.

“We genuinely at the end of the day in our heart want to help people,” Sinagra said.

“I mean, really what this is all about is altruism, service before self,” Appleton said.

Along with having spent decades wearing a badge, each man now shares a new honor. They are among the dozen or so officers and first responders from across the country featured in a new music video by country music legend George Strait.

“It is something I never expected to be a part of,” O’Dell said.

“I couldn’t carry a tune if it was on my back,” Appleton joked. “So I was not going to be in any kind of music videos that I ever saw in my lifetime.”

Each was invited because of their work with the First Responders Children’s Foundation, which provides holiday gifts to kids in need who are connected to first responders in some way.

“That’s the greatest gift for any of us,” Appleton said. “If you get a smile from the kid that may not have had that opportunity to get something like that, that’s what makes this job all worthwhile.”

The video is a remake of Strait’s song “The Weight of the Badge.”  Along with showcasing officers as everyday people, it also highlights the burdens faced by their families. Appleton’s wife and father were both interviewed.

“To be able to share that with your family to me was the greatest reward,” Appleton said.

“I think what George Strait was looking for was an opportunity for people to realize that police, we are people, we are human beings and we have feelings,” Sinagra said.

Like many in his line of work, Sinagra says law enforcement was viewed as a noble profession for the bulk of his career but especially since the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, the tenor has changed.

“All of a sudden that perception of the police and our profession being noble all of a sudden became vilified,” he said.

“We have one bad person that now everyone has to pay for,” O’Dell said. “I’m not saying he’s the only bad person, but it is a very small percentage.”

Each knows it will take much more than a music video to restore faith in their profession.

“We have to understand that part of that weight is that we have to own up to our responsibility and acknowledge that part of this negative reputation is our fault,” Appleton said.

Sinagra says he’s hopeful the song’s message will help bridge gaps with the communities they serve.

“If we can really show people who we are, the tides will turn and people will realize that our law-enforcement officers are really out there to help us and not hurt us,” he said.