I am thrilled to have Janice Cantore guest post today! I am such a fan of her books. She shares with us some thoughts about police and first responders especially during a crisis like Harvey.
About Janice Cantore
Janice Cantore is a retired Long Beach police officer who now writes suspense novels to keep readers engrossed and leave them inspired. Her twenty-two years of experience on the force lend authenticity to her stories. Crisis Shot is the first title in her Line of Duty series. Janice also authored the Cold Case Justice series—Drawing Fire, Burning Proof, and Catching Heat—the Pacific Coast Justice series—Accused, Abducted, and Avenged—and the Brinna Caruso novels—Critical Pursuit and Visible Threat. She also writes a blog about police work.
Disasters and First Responders
As I write this, the country is transfixed by the human drama unfolding in Houston. Our hearts go out to the thousands of people displaced by the huge storm they call Harvey. Because of my background in law enforcement, though many years retired, I can’t help but think to myself, What would I do in that situation? I hope that I would respond as bravely and selflessly as I see the people in Houston responding.
A disaster like Harvey reminds us of how crucial our first responders are. Police and fire personnel always go toward the danger while everyone else is running away. A sad illustration of that fact was the officer who drowned in his patrol car as he was heading out to work. He gave his life trying to help others. Years ago, in California, something similar happened after an earthquake. An officer was on his way to work, and surely realizing there was damage and people who needed help waiting for him, he drove off a freeway overpass to his death. Unbeknownst to him, the quake had destroyed the bridge.
People see the public face of officers and firefighters as they work to help strangers. With Harvey, they are working long shifts in difficult situations, and privately, many are certainly worrying about their own families and about not being there to help them. They sleep when they can, probably don’t get nearly enough food or coffee, but they keep going as long as there is a need. And I bet very few, if any, would call themselves heroes. They are simply doing their jobs—helping and protecting people.
So often on the news today we see only negative stories, especially about the police. Groups march to condemn cops, and I’ve even heard some pundits say police need to be done away with altogether. Not sure who they’d think they’d call if they needed help in a life-threatening emergency. It is so easy to concentrate on the negative, and often that is all the media sees. But a disaster like Harvey changes everyone’s focus.
My heart is with law enforcement. 99.9% of the men and women I worked with did the job because they wanted to help people. They would run toward the danger and work to keep innocent people safe. My novels always contain strong law enforcement characters. They’re not perfect, because none of us are, but they embody the spirit, courage, and strength of people who love justice, who want to protect the weak and helpless, and who will keep going in the face of great adversity.
In Crisis Shot, Tess O’Rourke comes from a law enforcement family. Her father died on duty saving a battered woman. Tess steps into the job wanting to be as good a cop as her father was, proud of the legacy he left her. When faced with a crisis in her professional life, she doesn’t give up—she stands strong, vowing to be true to her father’s memory and be a good cop.
I dedicated this book to the law enforcement community, and I pray often for the men and women in uniform. They need wisdom, and they need our support.
Not to overindulge in my fan girl status, but also wanted to share Janice’s new book Crisis Shot. It released today and I posted my review of it here: Crisis Shot
I am in love with the book cover. They did a great job of capturing Tess. Donna
