CALLING ALL ANGELS
Police work is one
of those jobs where, you're more likely to be noticed for doing something
wrong than for doing something right. We all hear the stories of
cops-gone-bad, caught up in some activity that is unbecoming, or worse,
illegal. It's the daily duty of the vigilant, those unencumbered with vices,
that goes unrecognized. On Monday of this past week in Manchester, one of
those received a gunshot wound to the head. Officer Michael L. Briggs was
responding to a domestic disturbance call. He was a street cop who served
mostly nights on bike patrol. It was what he loved according to his close
friend and former partner Michael Bergeron. He loved the ability to get in
and out of the alleys, the tight spots, the neighborhoods that bore
watching. A former Marine, he was confident and enjoyed the close contact
with residents that this position afforded him. A young husband and father
whose adult life had been spent in the protection industry, but more
tellingly, serving a cause greater than himself.
Though he fought hard to survive, Briggs succumbed to his injury the
following day. By then, the shooter, Michael Addison, 26 had been caught in
Dorchester, Massachusetts. In stark contrast to his victim, this young man's
life had spent largely in service to himself. Another of the lost youth,
probably from dire childhood circumstances, who takes an innocent with him
as his life implodes. Addison's My-Space page, where he titles himself a
"certified-freak", is rife with the usual disaffected ramblings of the "gangsta"
culture. Even so, his friends and family express surprise at the event,
saying it is "so unlike him". We should hope so. Homicide tends to quickly
highlight the gray areas into graphic tones of white and black. We should be
thankful, I suppose, that there is still an element of surprise when these
things happen. In many neighborhoods across the country, it is anything but
a surprise and the most common retort is "we expected him to kill someone
eventually."
What really sets this story apart, the enormous irony, is that several years
ago Officer Briggs had responded to a call of "shots fired". Again, the
virtue of those who choose protecting others as a vocation, without
prejudice, without question, without delay, was on display. On this day, a
certain Michael Addison had received a gunshot wound to the collarbone. The
first one there to help....Officer Michael Briggs. He administered first-aid
and stabilized the victim until EMT's could arrive. How could he have known
then, that in the cruelest twist of fate, the man that he was saving at that
very moment would be the same one to rob him of his own life years later. If
this one isn't enough to cause you to pause and wonder about fate and the
mystery of life then I don't know what would. Also, I am willing to bet that
if Briggs could speak today and have the unequaled benefit of hindsight,
that he would do the same thing all over again. This is what sets guys like
this apart from the rest of us. Like the Amish in their recent shining
example of forgiveness, this story tugs at your heart with the added element
of the previous connection between these two men.
Moreover, once again, and with increasing frequency, we see another example
of the inevitable collision between those who have made a life, who have
self-sacrificed to have it, and those who have nothing, or at least feel
they have nothing, to live for or to lose. In one fraction of a second, one
pull of a trigger, a life is snuffed out and a family and community
devastated. Briggs' sons, Mitchell, 8, and Brian, 11, spoke to reporters at
their father's funeral. "He tried to spend as much time with us as he
could", said Mitchell. "Even if he had a second left, he would spend it with
us". I'm sure he did spend his last seconds with them, holding them in his
thoughts. Their Dad was a Little League coach as well and the two boys spoke
of how much they would miss the backyard games, their trips to Maine and
"lots of other stuff".
And we will miss Michael Briggs, too. As it turns out, the alleged killer
had been involved in an armed robbery in the town where I live just days
before this shooting. Having friends on the Police Department, it made me
rethink the danger inherent in what they do. It takes a special breed, to
always know, somewhere in the back of your mind, that you never know if that
fleeting glimpse of your child as you go out the door, might be your last.
It has also made me angry at the callous, cavalier attitude that pervades a
segment of our society that really, truly doesn't care about a single thing.
In the end, this may be our most daunting enemy. The crooked trail that led
Michael Addison to that street, on that particular night, in such a mood
that he would fire at a police officer, is a trail being traveled by tens of
thousands. I don't know where they're going but if we ever reach a point
where there are more folks on that road than the one that Michael Briggs
traveled, then we as a society are going to be missing "lots of other stuff
" too.