By Sonja Wang
Several years ago, when my 17-year-old son was in 7th grade, he and a few of his friends asked if they could go to Page Field after school to practice baseball. I told my son I would swing by and pick him up on my way home from grocery shopping. As I drove down Loomis St., I saw two Bedford PD cruisers in the parking lot of Page Field, and as any other mother’s would, my heart started to gallop. However, as I pulled into the lot, I saw something that will stay in my heart as one of the most wonderful things I have seen done for my kids. Two Bedford Police Officers were on the field with the boys, playing homerun derby. They introduced themselves and said that they had challenged the boys to the game and that if the boys won, they said they would bring them to Bedford Farms in their police cars and treat them to an ice cream. Somehow the boys “managed” to beat the cops by one run and got their ice cream and ride. It was a great experience for them as young adolescents to have an experience with the police that was entirely positive and meaningful.
We all know how great our Police Department is here in Bedford. I can think of many ways that they interact positively and give their time to the youth of Bedford. The volunteer police coached recreation basketball league at the high school is one that comes to mind and the hockey game, where they and the firefighters play against the BHS Varsity team is another. We are very privileged, as a town, to have a police force that can take the time to make such investments into our kids and our community, and it really goes a long way, and I can’t speak for the Officers, but I think that probably goes both ways.
However, as I when I was studying Social Welfare (more years ago than I like to be reminded), and am now again made aware by recent events in the media, this sadly is not the same story for many children and many Police Officers across the country. In those communities, Police Officers are the last government system that is there to handle situations that were failed by so many other systems…family support, getting basic needs met, addiction and recovery assistance, education and the social/criminal justice systems. Police are stretched so thin and are so stressed out. On the other hand, you have generations of kids that feel that nobody cares about them and that they have no future. They certainly don’t have a positive relationship with police officers, because of these many factors.
I usually have a huge feeling of pride when I go to a ball game and hear the National Anthem and I love my country, but I also have had a huge feeling of pride when I see that there are men who are protesting the injustice and inequity of what is going on in our country. I just wish, in my heart, that we could really listen to what the problem is and focus on that. I understand people have different beliefs around the Anthem and the flag, but my belief is that there are many ways to be patriotic and to love your country and to care about those who are less fortunate than you is one of them for me and I think a lot of other’s as well.
There is no easy fix for the number of systems that need work, but we can acknowledge it exists to begin with and maybe pour some of this energy into why and how can we address it from the beginnings. Wouldn’t it be great if every kid in this country could have a pickup game of home run derby and an ice cream with their neighborhood police officer?
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