A/N: This was so completely random, it's not even funny. L&O isn't mine, and I'm leaving now.
Courtesy.
Professionalism.
Respect.
The CPR of the NYPD. Written on squad cars in blue letters to let the city know what we're there fore. But it doesn't really seem to matter. People are still reluctant to talk, reluctant to trust. We try, but it never seems to work. The city is fickle in its affections; one minute it loves us and the next, we're lower than dirt.
Courtesy's fallen by the wayside. Used to be that most of us could at least act like we cared. Could act like stuff mattered, like we really believed half of what we were told. Not anymore. People lie, they give us the runaround…Courtesy used to get us somewhere. It doesn't anymore.
And professionalism? Yeah, right. Maybe once upon a time, but…Things change. Most of us aren't going by the book, though we're careful not to cross any lines. We keep up appearances, sure, and we act professional, but we're really not. We're just cops that are trying to do our jobs.
Respect is one of the things we still go by. It's almost like we don't have a choice, but we do. We just choose to go with it. We respect our commanding officers, even if we don't like what they tell us. Our partners, no matter how annoying they get. The brass, though we poke fun at them behind their backs. Other cops, for things they do, units they work, bullets they've taken…lives they've given and lives they've saved. And we try to respect ourselves, but it doesn't always work.
There is, however, one thing that we all go by no matter what…the one policy of the NYPD that never has changed, and never will change. We swore to serve and protect the city streets .Might not always be easy, but we did it.
To serve and protect. We looked out at our city, from our precincts, and from our homes, discouraged at times, but still determined to carry on.
After all, it was what we were meant for.