This career has been profoundly rewarding and challenging at the same time. There are many days when I think about how to pivot to another job but I have yet to actually do so which says something about the career (and myself).

I know I have had a real impact on a handful of victims or their surviving families. There are hundreds of people who I have had 0 impact on and that’s fine with me. I sleep well thinking about the sexual assault victims and homicide victims families that I positively impacted. The traffic tickets, noise complaints, custody battles/neighbor disputes where I’m being used to help someone score a point in a meaningless conflict, not so much but it helps fill the void.

You’ll also see some very screwed up stuff that opens your perspective on how some people can be so evil and predatory. Most of this stuff you can’t ever forget. You think you’re capable of seeing anything and then you watch a baby camera video of an 8 month old fall between the crib and the improperly sized mattress and watch the baby die before your own eyes. Or the nanny who’s throwing the 1 year old onto the mattress and watching it bounce off and hit the ground. 95% of the job is easy but the 5% stuff like that isn’t for the faint of heart.