Alumni Magazine Spring 2010 - Green Meadow Waldorf School

On the StreetA Good and Fair CopRamona Ruud ’91Each time a person stands upfor an ideal, or acts to improvethe lot of others, or strikesout against injustice, he sendsforth a tiny ripple of hope,and crossing each other froma million different centers ofenergy and daring, these ripplesbuild a current that can sweepdown the mightiest walls ofoppression and resistance.–Robert Francis KennedyGrowing up in SpringValley, I had noperception of lawenforcement or the broadercriminal justice system.The secluded world ofThreefold was immunefrom the necessity of a lawenforcement presence. Itwas not until I was fifteenyears old that I had anyinteraction with members ofthe field of criminal justice.I was instantly opposedto the system, feeling myfreedoms and rights weresuppressed. This made merebel against the pressure toconform to what I perceivedas their rules. At the sametime, I was beginning todevelop a sense of the worldas a whole and the idea thatthere is a basic human needfor order. I started doing myown research into differenttypes of political structuresand philosophies and beganto understand that laws andtheir enforcement were vitalfor a just society.When I arrived at the Universityof Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Istarted studying toward adegree in political science withan emphasis in pre-law. I wasintroduced to a professor ofcriminal justice and becameone of her research assistantsin a study of police use ofdeadly force. Throughoutthe study, my responsibilitiesrequired me to interviewmany police officers. It wasthe first time in my life that Irealized that police officerswere people who took the jobto actually help people. It wasout of these interactions that Ideveloped a deep respect forthe profession and the peoplewho chose it.In 1997, I was in my final yearof college and looking tomy future. I really wanted togo to law school. However,I had three young childrenand knew I needed a jobthat would support them.During the research project,I developed a friendship withone of the police officers, andhe suggested I take the testto become a police officer.I agreed, thinking that I hadnothing to lose by trying.When I went to take thewritten test, I was amazed bythe experience. People hadcome from all over the countryfor a chance to become aMilwaukee police officer.There was a man in a tuxedowho came to take the test—even though he was gettingmarried within minutes of itscompletion. I suddenly reallywanted to become a policeofficer, but realized I camefrom a completely differentbackground than the rest ofthe people there, who weretelling stories of wanting to becops since they were children.In 1998, after going througha rigorous process, I washired by the MilwaukeePolice Department andstarted training at the policeacademy. I loved my lawclasses and hated my rulesand regulation classes. I wrotethe back of tickets like collegeessays and was told that Platoand Thomas Jefferson hadto be on my personal time,not part of my career. I wastold repeatedly that I wasthe only person making thejob harder for myself than itneeded to be. On the nightof my graduation, I was pulledaside by the command staffand told that I would eithermake one of the best cops inthe department or the worst.It was up to me.I hit the streets of Milwaukeewith a desire to do good andbe fair. I quickly learned thatI had chosen a thankless jobwith brutal hours and terrifyingmoments. Instead of saving theworld, I went from assignmentto assignment dealing withpeople who were desperateand in horrible situations andwho, for whatever reason, wereunable to help themselves.So they reached out and gotus. I tried always to be fair andunderstanding, to providethe service that I would wantone of my family members toreceive. I lived by the motto16 | Alumni Magazine