By Hakim Bellamy
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Raise your right hand,
and repeat after me…
I do solemnly declare
upon my honour and conscience,
that I will act, at all times,
to the best of my ability and knowledge
in a manner befitting a police officer.
I do,
take this community to be my lawfully
wedded life.
To have and hold,
in sickness and in health
‘til death do us in.
I do solemnly swear,
with my hand on this bible
instead of this rifle,
in this court of public opinion,
that I am not judge
nor jury
nor Jesus.
I am just
a servant,
sworn to protect
this community.
I do thee serve.
I will preserve
the dignity
and will respect the rights
of all individuals.
I will reserve
the right to respect the dignity
of all individuals.
I will serve,
to the best of my dignity,
the respect of all.
I will discharge my duties
with integrity
and will promote understanding
and conciliation.
I will discharge
only when it is my duty,
only when we’re beyond understanding,
only when we are beyond conciliation.
I will only discharge integrity.
I will not
Not even when my life is threatened.
Only when your life is in danger,
because I signed up to be a hero
not a coward.
Because the only thing I am allowed to be afraid of
is losing my community’s trust
Because anyone can get a gun
and call themselves a cowboy,
but not every gun can get a conscience
and call himself a cop.
I will exercise my authority
as a police officer
in the manner intended by the law.
I will exercise my compassion
as a police officer
because I am not above the law,
because it is not beneath me,
because I am not “the law.”
Just another one of the people
the law protects.
I will faithfully obey
the orders of my superiors,
and will be ready
to confront danger
in the line of duty.
It is my duty
To faithfully obey
my moral compass,
and will be ready
to confront my superiors
when they are out of line.
And that’s an order!
I will act with honesty,
courtesy and regard
for the welfare of others,
and will endeavor to develop
the esprit de corps.
I will not act.
I will be honest, personified.
I will be courtesy of personhood
Even to those without homes
Or on welfare.
I will endeavor to say
“Hello” from time to time.
Develop morale in the community
because it’s bigger than some code,
because it’s bluer than some code,
and desperately in need of sunlight.
Because the root word of morale
is moral.
And because it’s just as easy
to always be looking for
what someone has done right,
as it is to always be looking for
what someone is doing wrong.
I solemnly swear
to be as obsessed with building community
as I am with broken laws.
I will act justly
and impartially
and with propriety
towards my fellow officers.
So long as they are just,
impartial
and proper
towards my fellow citizens.
I do solemnly declare
upon my honour and conscience,
that I will act,
like and officer of the peace
at all times,
to the best of my ability and knowledge.
I will constantly strive to honour
this oath in my service
as a police officer,
so help me God.
© Hakim Bellamy April 13, 2014
Originally published in Protect and Serve ABQ
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Hakim Bellamy
Hakim Bellamy is Albuquerque’s Inaugural Poet Laureate, and counts, educator, musician and community organizer among his many ventures. Hakim’s multimedia Children’s book, Samuel’s Story is scheduled for release by Community Publishing in the Spring, 2015. Image courtesy of Joy Godfrey
Community Publishing brings local artists of all mediums together in creative collaborations for distribution as multimedia eBooks while promoting literacy in our communities.
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