To Heal a Cop

It's always awkward when people cry on camera - even to indentured cynics like me. Normally I get through it by feathering the zoom button just so; done right it makes for a nice slow push that really captures the light of any falling tears. Sound cold? It ain't. More often than not I'm biting my lip as well, lest any ocular droppage give me away. Such was the case the other day when, only minutes after meeting Sean Gladieux (for what turned out to be the second time), the big beefy traffic cop broke down. For once I didn't feel like a heel while zooming in, for this strong silent type had a message he wanted heard, and if he got choked up delivering it - well, who could blame him? Dude loves his wife. Turns out she's a cop too, a 14 year veteran who happens to outrank him. When doctors told her she had breast cancer earlier this year, Sergeant Jill Gladieux took on the diagnosis as just another case she had to crack.

Sean, meanwhile, felt powerless to help. With a hard-charging wife facing the ravages of chemotherapy, the young husband and father searched for a way to heal his soulmate. That, he could not do. So instead he did something inherently cop-like. He designed a badge of honor, a 'coin of courage' that could be used to raise money for early detection. After partnering with a local foundation to have the pink and white disc manufactured, he went looking for a little publicity. That's how Julie Luck and I ended up at Police Headquarters late last week, bearing silent witness as a man wearing a bullet proof vest left himself utterly exposed. The news story resulting from that encounter airs tonight, and I really hope it helps kickstart Sean Gladieux's most heartfelt campaign. If you're one to help in such endeavors, this is the place to start. Otherwise, rest easy in the knowledge that your friendly neighborhood lenslinger has a brand new bestest cop buddy...

...Even after I got home and realized the beefy hero I'd just help canonize was the very same traffic cop who handed me a big fat speeding ticket the month before. I knew he looked familiar!