True Police Stories

"Courage is the ability to move; when all around you are frozen in fear
and no one would blame you if you did nothing at all." Capt. Click. Phx. PD

My Name is Warren Solomon

Taken from the book Think About it...  for your reading convenience

It is a great honor to add my testimony to that of my “Brothers.” I call them my brothers because they and all of us have the same loving and merciful Father who lives in heaven. I also call them my brothers because of our profession. We are police officers. Police officers are peculiar people. They face many challenges and obstacles. They are often hated, loved, blamed and thanked all in one shift. Officers see much of death, sorrow, pain, poverty and many other negatives in life. For this reason, I’m ever grateful for a loving Heavenly Father and for our Savior Jesus Christ.

              Without the knowledge I have of God’s plan for His children,
                               I probably would have no faith in mankind or care for anyone else.

I’m presently a Sergeant for the Mesa Police Department and have been in law enforcement for over ten years. Eight of those years I have been on the SWAT team. Many times I have said a silent prayer to my Father in Heaven when things looked or felt bad. As a SWAT team member, I often do “High Risk Entries” into buildings for search warrants, or dope houses on narcotic raids, or to apprehend high risk fugitives of justice, or for suicidal or homicidal people or for some other situation where the possibility of violence is very high.

               Sometimes it is to apprehend the guilty,
                                                             sometimes it is to protect the innocent.

In most cases, there is a silence among the entry team before the mission. Some are going over the entry plan in their heads, while others are contemplating what if scenarios and still others are saying silent prayers. The entry team has said a prayer as a group on a few occasions. Why do these rough and tough SWAT officers pray or have a time of silence? Because they know, deep in their hearts that God exists and listens to His children.

I think that all men call upon God when they are in a desperate situation or humbled by a misfortune. There is a saying among soldiers on the battle field. It goes, “There are no atheists in a fox hole.” I believe that to be a true statement. What we need to realize is that our Heavenly Father wants to hear from us in good times as well as bad times. We should always give Him thanks for the blessings of everyday gifts that are too often taken for granted.

We who live in the United States of America are the most blessed people of all. This land was declared a land of promise, a land of freedom, a land free from bondage. It is a land protected by our Heavenly Father. This land will continue as such as long as we, the citizens of this land do only one thing ...serve God. Serving God is simply doing those things that each of us know in our heart and souls, is right. Living the Golden Rule by treating others as we would have them treat us is a great start to keeping our country great and our families strong.

I know that Heavenly Father has not left us alone in our efforts to do good deeds and to combat evil. He has given us the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost can give us counsel, strengthen us in time of temptation, confirm answers from our Heavenly Father and can be a voice of warning. I mention the

Holy Ghost because He has been a great strength to me and has kept me safe. Many times I have  walked into a situation at work and I have had the Spirit tell me that something is wrong. That is when I step back, get a back-up or just get out of the area until I feel better about the situation.

One case in particular comes to mind when the Holy Ghost helped me. I was working a graveyard shift when I received a call from dispatch of a 911 hang-up. It was at a mobile home. I was riding with another officer that night. As we approached the front door, we could see three adults drinking in the living room, but everything appeared to be normal. My partner handled the call and knocked on the door. A woman answered the door and she immediately became enraged. She punched my partner in the face and ran down the hall. I chased the woman down the hall but was confronted by another woman who tried to stop me from apprehending the woman that had just assaulted my partner. I eventually got past the second woman and headed down the hall. As I reached the end bedroom, I was totally caught off guard. The woman suddenly came out of the bedroom with a revolver. She had it raised and pointed at my head.

          I can still remember staring down the barrel of her gun.
                    I can still remember seeing that cylinder loaded with bullets.
                              I was close enough to see that the bullets were hollow points.
                                        If she fired, there would be no way she could miss me!

Police officers are trained to instantly react to life threatening situations. Not to stop and think about them. So without thinking, I did as my training had taught me. I drew my weapon, stepped behind a door jam for cover while instantly picking a clear front sight and began to squeeze the trigger to counter the threat before me. What happened next, I did not expect.

       A clear voice and feeling came to me that she would not shoot.
              It was made clear to me that I was to stop squeezing the trigger
                       of my weapon and that I was in no danger as she would not shoot me.

I was stunned by this feeling. It was against all my training, but I listened and I backed off of the
trigger. Suddenly she dropped the revolver and ran back into the bedroom. When word got around the department about my armed confrontation, I was told by many of my fellow officers, “You are an idiot! You could have been killed!” By law and by policy, I would have been more than justified in taking the life of that woman. But the Spirit unmistakably spoke to my soul. The Spirit has never  led me astray nor will it ever mislead me. That I know! No matter what anybody said, I knew I had done the right thing in not shooting her. I spoke to that woman several months later after her plea bargain. She told me the same thing the Spirit had told me that night. That she never intended to shoot me.

                         Had I shot her and had she died,
          there would be three more motherless children on the earth today
                 and I would have great regrets for not listening to the Spirit and obeying.

I wish to testify of one more truth, and that is of repentance and forgiveness. One hears much about Jesus Christ and why it is important to accept Him into your life. All of us have weaknesses and all of us have sinned. So, a Savior was provided that we may be forgiven and return to our Heavenly  Father. That Savior is Jesus Christ. He gave of His perfect life, a sacrifice for you and me. All we need to do is accept His sacrifice and do His will.

An ancient prophet named Alma learned how beautiful and comforting repentance can be. Alma was an enemy to God and persecuted those that believed in Christ. He led a life of wickedness and sin. Alma knew of Heavenly Father because of his father who was also named Alma. Alma the younger had been taught by his father in his youth. But Alma the younger wouldn’t listen. One day Alma the younger was visited by an angel and commanded to stop the destruction he was causing. Alma immediately realized the seriousness of what he had done by his persecution. Alma had a perfect recollection of all his guilt and sins. He began to suffer tremendously. Alma then remembered the teaching of his father. He remembered that Christ would die for our sins and that we could be forgiven of all sins. This principle of forgiveness motivated Alma to repent and immediately he experienced great joy and happiness. He no longer had the pain of sin, but now had the joy of forgiveness.

Each of us can also experience exquisite joy in our lives as we repent and call on Christ. More
importantly, our families will benefit from our repenting. Sin distracts us from those things that bring us true happiness and peace of mind. Regardless of your job, social status, political views or other factors that make us all different and unique, we all have two things in common.

          We are the sons and daughters of God,
                                and we are here on earth for a purpose and not by mere chance.
                                                                    I know these things to be true!

                                                       Sergeant (&RM) Warren Solomon Badge #8183
 

If you are or were a police officer, soldier, fireman
or wife, mother, father of such or some other branch of emergency personnel
and would like to share an unusual testimony building experience with others,
please contact us for details at

Samuel@ldscops.com

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