Birmingham police officer gets unexpected chance to protect and
serve  Derron Jackson1.jpgOfficer Derron Jackson  BIRMINGHAM,
Alabama - Spending Christmas night at a shelter for the homeless
wasn't at the top of Derron Jackson's wish list, but he did it
anyway.  The warming station at Boutwell Auditorium was the
Birmingham police officer's assignment Wednesday, so he did as
he was told. Now he's thankful he was there, and wouldn't have
it any other way.  What happened that night, said Don Lupo,
director of the Mayor's Office of Citizens Assistance, "was a
really beautiful thing."  A man was found sleeping on the front
steps of the auditorium. They summoned Officer Jackson and a
volunteer nurse to help bring the man inside.  He was not
homeless, he told them, but he couldn't go home. "He got our
attention when he told us that he was hurting,'' Lupo said. "I
thought he was in pain, but that was only part of his hurt. I
was a little slow to understand that his hurting was not a
physical injury - but the officer