I Dreamt I was a Police Officer

NEWARK POLICE ACADEMY GRADUATES 66 RECRUITS

The above was almost me....

As the background investigation phase was ending, I withdrew for the reason that I could not complete the "background investigation packet" as comfortably as I wanted. It is not that I had anything to hide, but just that couldn't be as honest as I wanted to be in the amount of time I had. Something about me just craved honesty in that process. I will never forget the detectives who handled my case. They must have thought I was crazy when I told them I flipped a dime on it (though, at first, they did not seem as surprised as I thought they would be).

Heads it was God's will for me to continue, tales I should withdraw (it was a deal that I made with the God, due to being very stressed about the whole process). The dime landed on tales...but I hesitated to withdraw.

A couple of days after flipping the dime, I had a dream of great lightening in a thunderstorm (kind of like below).



In the dream, I was with a friend and told him we just had to get under a small shelter nearby which would make us safe. So we went under the shelter. (However, in my dream while we were under the shelter, I was thinking that if God really wanted to kill us, He could send down a lightening bolt on the shelter and we'd be toast.) A lightening bolt never came down on the shelter, and in the end all was fine.

The morning I had that dream, was the same day I was to meet the detectives (whom I eventually told about the "dime flipping") with my background investigation packet finished. I was seeking more time, despite the dime landing on tales. That day, Detective Dent, who was in charge of my case, made it clear she did not want to see any of the paper work that I had (as the packet was unfinished).

Another detective took my paper work, but before she did, she said, "You can't make deals with God."

The meeting ended with me signing a letter of deferment and being told that if I brought everything else in the next day, I could have the deferment letter back. I never went back, as I was soon convinced that it was God's will I no longer continue my pursuit of becoming a police officer (just as I believed I should stop the pursuit when the dime landed on tales).

In the end, the journey educated me, and even what brought about the whole process still fascinates me. It was actually another dream that started it all. In the dream, I was sitting in the front office of the mission. I soon noticed that I had a yellow stripe down the side of my pant leg, and that I was armed. In my dream, I perceived that I was a police officer.

Soon after that I became interested in how a person becomes a police officer. I thought for sure that you needed a college degree. I even went online and noticed that for the NYPD you need one. After going online, I kind of just dismissed the idea of me becoming a police officer. However, a couple of days later while I was in an Old Navy (which went out of business) of downtown Newark, a female Newark police officer walked in to quickly shop for cloths. My curiosity got the best of me, so I asked her if one needed to have a college education to become a Newark police officer. She laughed and said, "No, matter of fact, they are taking applications right now."

I was shocked.

She then told me where to go to get an application and I went. There was a $25 application fee, and after filling out the application, I waited a week before it was due (the end of March, in 2006) to mail it.

I then took a test in June of 2006 and got the results in September of 2006. I scored an 83% which was good enough to continue the process. On December 24th (Christmas Eve) of '06, I entered a two year pool of eligibility. Eligible candidates of this pool would be chosen (certified by the Appointing Authority) to continue the process. On August 7, 2007, about a year and a half after I applied, I was chosen. A month after being certified by the Appointing Authority, the Newark Police Department contacted me to start the background investigation. And so, we now have reached the end of this post, as we have just arrived at the beginning of it (me withdrawing from the background investigation). I hope you enjoyed reading this story as much as I enjoyed the journey. If you are looking for a moral, I would suggest something along the lines of: Seek to understand the meaning behind your dreams, but know when it is just time to let go of them.