Finishing Your Degree   Fifteen years ago I was parked next to
another cop who told me he decided not to go back to college to
finish his degree (even thought the agency paid him to do so),
because in his words, "I'm gonna do this until I retire; I love
it." He failed his probationary period, was fired, and had
nothing to fall back on. Another officer questioned my sanity
when he asked why I would pay someone to give me homework rather
than work an extra job for overtime. I still recall waking up
after a few hours of sleep having worked midnights only to start
typing a midterm paper while watching my 18-month-old son
outside playing in beautiful spring weather, wishing I were with
him instead of what I was doing. It was a sacrifice I made and I
am not sure it was ever worth the price. In the end though, that
piece of paper that said I had accomplished something starting
paying me back, slowly.  Tarnished Badge  Face the facts you are
getting older. At some point you won't be a cop anymore for a
variety of rea