IRVING, Texas — In a time when trust of law enforcement is being questioned by many, it can be a tough time to be a police officer.
Imagine dreaming of being a police officer as a kid, graduating from a rigorous police academy as a young adult, serving for years believing in the work you do, and then May 2020 happens. The tragedy of George Floyd and an insurgence of doubt, and protest are attached to your title.
That’s the reality for Officer Robert Reeves with the Irving Police Department.
He’s served with the department for the last 17 years and loves his job. He’ll be the first to tell you the badge isn’t for everyone, and the title of public servant comes with both the good and the bad.
“We know not everyone likes us, and I recognize there are officers who make some true bonehead decisions and maybe even to the point of breaking the law,” said Reeves. “But rest assured that nobody hates a bad cop worse than good cops. Something that happens in Ferguson or St Louis, it affects every officer across the entire United States.”
Something that’s given him some comfort recently is an act of kindness from Irving resident Roy Santoscoy who owns Roy’s Pawn and Gun.
Santoscoy says he loves his job, and the feeling he gets when someone finds what they’ve been looking for has kept him in business over the years. Earlier this month he donated 160 high-quality tactical flashlights through the Irving Police Association Fraternal Order of Police.
The value of the donation is more than $16,000, and the lights will be used to outfit all of the officers currently working in the Patrol Division.
Officers are issued a flashlight as a part of their tactical gear from the department. However, the standard-issue is large and often cumbersome to use. If an officer wants a smaller flashlight, they have to pay for it out of pocket.
That just wouldn’t do for Santoscoy. He says he’s the kind of guy kind of guy who sees a problem, and tries to fix it.
He wanted to make sure the officers working on the streets have the gear they need to make a “hard job a little bit easier.” said Santoscoy. “This high-quality flashlight can be clipped to the officer's chest gear.”
Santoscoy has a lot of friends in law enforcement and the scrutiny police have been under recently has him worried.
“Police are under a lot of fire right now, you know there are some bad apples who have done some bad stuff,” said Santoscoy. “Because of that there’s becoming a stigma unfortunately about becoming a police officer, and that’s a really scary thing because we need good people to do that job”
Reeves says it’s support like this from the community that makes the tough job worth the while.
“To see this business, this community member invest back in us, and buy us some equipment, you know that’s like Christmas morning, you definitely feel very appreciative and very honored.” said Reeves.
Roy hopes his act kindness will spark a chain-reaction in his community.
“Those of us who really appreciate the good officers in our cities I think we need to step-up” said Roy.
If you have a story of someone giving back to their community, let us know about it. Share your ideas with DFW Reporter Lupe Zapata: Lupe.Zapata@Charter.com
