A Fallen Officer in San Miguel

On February 15 Jesus Araiza Martinez, a commodante in the San Miguel police force, was killed in the line of duty, outside of town.  He got a call from a small tienda owner that someone tried to pass a counterfeit bill (false money, in Spanish).  He was shot and killed during a car chase and gun battle with the countefeiters.   He was 28 years old and had a wife and five children.  A hero's funeral was held in town at one of the historic churches; the service was broadcast on the local radio station.  Below is a translation of the prose read at the civil ceremony for Commodante Martinez.  It seems all the world thinks of all cops in Mexico as the bad guys.   Like everywhere, it's only some of them.  The majority are just humans, with a heart, and a family, like the  rest of us.

"My son, I am the police.

I am the bad guy of society who is badly needed and badly paid. But believe me, I am here to serve the rest and I feel the importance when a life is saved, when I protect the innocent, when I detain a criminal. These are satisfactions which no other job has. My profession is truly thankless. They all throw rocks and insult me when I do my duty, because they wish the law would be applied for the rest and not themselves. People humiliate me when they offer me funds to fail to comply with my duty, and if I accept, they call me dishonest.

You should know that when I leave the house I may never return, because my job is constantly dangerous, where I see through life itself. That's the way it is!  Maybe I must die defending the life and property of a stranger.  Meanwhile I am waited for at home, to give me the kiss they daily welcome me with. And the truth of the matter is, I suffer the pangs that we won't see each other again because I have given my life to this society where my existence is needed, yet nothing is given in return. It isn't capable of asking for a raise in my salary so my children and the children of other officers can feel proud of me.

If at times I don't see my family, it is because of this ungrateful but emotional job which gives me no schedule. Yes, it's true, I work twelve hours but only when I can. But at other times because of the necessities of service I have to double my time. I never complain when others need me to be there for their security. It is indisputable that once the society rests and sleeps I stand, protecting when wishing I could be with my family, guarding your sleep.  I wish I could watch my kids grow healthy, happy, but I am constrained to seeing them from time to time.  In any manner I am always thinking of them and I will never forget them. Every day I prepare myself to be a better police officer so they can feel proud of their father. I fight side by side with my partners for my city, my people, my family so everything can be secure and all can walk the streets, arrive at school, free of assaults and fear. And for that reason I am here a police officer."