3 lessons from a policeman’s child

The following essay was written in 2020 by Police1 columnist Chris Littrell, describing the experiences he shared with his daughter Danielle, who, like Chris, grew up as a cop’s child. Tragically, 23-year-old Danielle was killed in a car accident on July 2, 2024. She was riding her scooter to work, trying to reduce her carbon footprint, wearing her helmet and driving in the correct lane. The driver of a truck stopped at a stop sign. Unfortunately, he did not see her and drove into the intersection. We share this essay in honor of Danielle and as a tribute to all children of cops.

Some of my most vivid childhood memories are from the front seat of a police car, where I witnessed high-speed driving, domestic disputes, homicides, and more. Even simple roll calls where the cops joked and bantered made my eyes open a little wider and my pulse rate increase ever so slightly. Cops had the best job in the world!

Growing up as a police officer’s child was both remarkable and terrifying. I had full access to the heroic, dangerous and adrenaline-filled life of a police officer. I also learned at a young age that my father’s job was truly dangerous.

Years later, I followed in my father’s footsteps and became a police officer with the same agency. When I believed she could handle the experience, I began taking my eldest daughter with me.

I recently sat down with my daughter to talk about the lessons we learned from our rides with Dad. It turns out that we learned some of the same lessons 22 years apart. Here are the three lessons we learned as cops’ kids.

1. We live in a dangerous world

“The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who do nothing about it.” – Albert Einstein

Chris: Surprisingly, our first experience in the passenger seat of a police car was both of us investigating a crime of extreme violence. The year was 1991. I was 12 years old. Our ride was seemingly uneventful, but I didn’t care. I was thrilled to be in the police car with my dad. We had just stopped for lunch when dispatch notified us of gunshots in a bar. We were only a minute away and were the first to arrive on the scene. The victim was in a car with his friends. They knew he had only moments to live and drove him to a nearby hospital. I watched the sea of ​​onlookers crowd around my dad. He was alone. Now I was alone. My eyes were wide, my heart was racing. This was insanely dangerous!

Danielle: Fast forward to 2013, and another first ride-along takes place. I’m in my dad’s car, just minutes after leaving the station, and we’re on our way to the scene of a stabbing at a local convenience store. The whole day had flown by. We were chatting casually and the time between calls was short. As the ride-along seemed to be coming to an end, my dad said we would make one more attempt to find the suspect in the stabbing case. His gang name was Silence. Dad pulled up to Silence’s mom’s apartment and told me to stay in the car. Moments later, two officers escorted a gruff, grimacing, and very scary Silence out in handcuffs. As he drove past my dad’s car, we made eye contact. I sat frozen in my seat, terrified. I had never looked into the eyes of someone who had committed such a vicious act.

2. Acting out of fear

“Like any living being, you can recognize when you are in danger. You have the gift of a brilliant inner guardian that warns you of danger and guides you through risky situations.” – From “The Gift of Fear” by Gavin DeBecker

Chris: We live in a dangerous world, and sometimes it’s really scary, especially for 12 and 13 year olds. Yet when faced with fear, we both learned the importance of taking action. The event that made this lesson clear to me was at the murder scene. When my father was surrounded by a chaotic crowd, I quickly locked my door. That was my only way to protect myself in a crazy, scary situation. I didn’t know if the suspect was in the crowd. I didn’t know what was going to happen to my father. I took action on a small scale, but that experience stayed with me for the rest of my life. Regardless of the danger I saw, I learned to act based on my training and trust my instincts.

Danielle: Acting out of fear can also happen on a large scale. One spring day at my high school, I was crossing the street after sixth period to wait for my mom in the library. My favorite place to go home was waiting outside, a new book open on my lap. Suddenly there was a small commotion in front of me. I looked up and to my horror, two high school-aged boys had drawn knives and were circling each other. Slowly I saw the other adults present pass me by. They all rushed past me, which didn’t help me and certainly didn’t improve the situation. Slowly I put my book away in my backpack, terrified that the boys would turn their aggression on me if they caught me running away. Heart pounding, I slowly walked around the corner of the building. As soon as I was out of sight, I called 9-1-1. After explaining the situation, I suddenly burst into tears. “I’m Officer Littrell’s daughter,” I managed to say as two police cars pulled up and arrested the boys. This situation was very scary, so much so that the adults standing by simply dragged their children along and did not try to deescalate the fight. Taking action in this situation took all of my courage, but ultimately it was what had to be done.

3. Not every suspect is evil

Chris: Growing up, I played cops and robbers and watched cop movies where heroic cops went after sinister villains. I came to the conclusion that my dad arrested bad people. That first ride definitely confirmed that notion; anyone who shoots another human being in the middle of the street deserves the title of a truly bad guy. However, I also saw my dad arrest people who didn’t seem so bad. They did bad things, but I found out that normal people sometimes make bad decisions. Life is complicated. Those memorable nights in the front seat of a patrol car taught me responsibility, justice, and decency. I also came to the conclusion that my dad had a pretty cool job.

Danielle: “You can get out, Dani,” my dad said. When Dad said that, my stomach sank. It was a simple phone call. A woman with an arrest warrant out for her had been spotted at her home. Those 50 steps from the car to the front door were excruciating. I had no idea what to expect. Dad knocked three times, hard. I stood there, expecting a dangerous-looking person to open the door. Instead, the door opened and a young woman, nicely dressed and smiling, stood there. When she saw my dad in his uniform, she knew exactly why we were there.

“Hello, sir, would you please not handcuff me in front of my nephews?” she asked.

That simple comment humanized her to me. I had always imagined the “bad guy” as inherently evil. However, when I realized she had a home, a sister, and nephews, I realized she wasn’t that different from me. She had simply made a bad decision. From that day on, my view of criminals changed. Everyone makes mistakes. Sometimes it’s a small mistake. Sometimes it leads to an arrest warrant. It’s important to remember that every person stands behind the law or rule they broke.

Lessons we have learned

“More is learned than taught.” — Unknown author

Chris and Danielle: These experiences either taught us new truths about the law enforcement profession or provided us with a platform to practice important skills. By recognizing the dangers in the world, we learned how to act despite fear. Acting out of fear then opened our eyes to those we thought we should be afraid of. However, we both quickly learned that not every person who is arrested has bad intentions. These lessons were never taught to us directly; we learned them through real-world experiences.

Being the child of a police officer gives you a unique sense of security, knowing your parents can protect you if something goes wrong. None of us would change our parents’ professions if we had the chance. Despite the fear we felt every time we heard about a disaster on the news and knew “Dad” was there, we learned so much. This experience can be scary, but by learning from the fear and drawing lessons from the stories we heard, we have become stronger and wiser as children of police officers.