When the Lord was creating Police Officers, He was into his sixth day of overtime when an Angel appeared and said, "You're doing a lot of fiddling around on this one Lord?"
And the Lord said, "Have you read the specification on this order? A Police Officer has to be able to run five miles through alleys in the dark, scale walls, enter homes the health inspector wouldn't touch, and all the while, not wrinkle his uniform."
"He has to be able to sit in an unmarked car all day on surveillance, guard a murder scene that night, canvass the neighbourhood for witnesses, and still testify in court the next day."
"He has to be in good physical condition at all times, running on coffee and half-eaten meals. And he's meant to have six pairs of hands."
The Angel shook her head slowly and said, "Six pairs of hands...no way."
"It's not the hands that are causing me problems," said the Lord, "it's the three pairs of eyes a Police Officer has to have."
"That's on the standard model?" asked the Angel.
The Lord nodded.
"One pair that sees through a pocket before he asks, May I see what's in there, Sir?" - when he already knows and wishes he'd taken that accounting job. "Another pair here in the back of his head for his partner's safety. And another pair of eyes here in front that can look reassuringly at a bleeding victim and say, "You'll be all right," when he knows it isn't so."
"Lord," said the Angel, touching his sleeve, "rest and work on this tomorrow."
"I can't," said the Lord, "I already have a model that can talk a large, out of control drunk into a patrol car without incident - and feed a family of five on a civil service pay cheque."
The Angel circled the model of the police officer very slowly. "Can it think?" she asked.
"You bet," said the Lord. "It can tell you the elements of a hundred different crimes; recite the Caution in its sleep; detain, investigate, search, and arrest a violent thug on the street in less time than it takes five learned judges to debate the legality of the stop... and still keeps its sense of humour."
"This Officer also has phenomenal personal control. He can deal with crime scenes that you'd find painted in hell, coax a confession from a child abuser, comfort a murder victim's family, and then read in the daily paper how Law Enforcement isn't sensitive to the Rights of criminal suspects."
Finally, the Angel bent over and ran her finger across the cheek of the Police Officer. "There's a leak," she pronounced. "I did say that You were trying to put too much into this model."
"That's not a leak," said the Lord, "it's a tear."
"What's the tear for?" asked the Angel.
"It's for bottled-up emotions, for fallen colleagues, for commitment to the Crown, and for Justice."
"You're a genius," said the Angel.
The Lord looked somber. "I didn't put it there," he said.
