The desert sun rises hot, heavy and glaring over the glittering lights of the city that never sleeps and unceasingly performs. Its scorching rays pound relentless and unforgiving on the sidewalks and the pavement. It is already in the 90’s as I emerge after my 07:00 hrs. briefi ng, ready to tackle another day on the streets. The sun’s blistering shafts assail my head and shoulders sucking beads of sweat to my forehead and down my back. I patrol my area alert and observant, preserving the peace and protecting the inhabitants of the Naked City, Las Vegas, Nevada.
It is my job to confront those who do evil or wrong, to bring them to justice and to discourage one human from hurting another. I instruct others in how to oppose dishonesty and corruption, to repel unjustness and acts of malice, and in how to go home alive and to feel they have done their job, one day at a time. I am one of many, Las Vegas’s fi nest. Offi cer Rod Randel by name, AKA The Hawk. Preventing crime is my game; I am a major player! And God, I love what I do!
The dazzling lights, painted ladies, celebrities, casinos, slot machines and gambling houses are our city’s main attractions. The Las Vegas strip and downtown attract people from all over the world. The jingle of coins, the clack of a stack of chips, and the shuffle of cards draw you like steel to a magnet. Others, the discouraged, the lost and the forgotten, forage, live on the streets, eat from dumpsters, and sleep in crevices and alleys. Some make their living on the street, trading their bodies or their wares for the almighty dollar, trafficking drugs and negotiating the sale of guns, or preying on others.
As for me, I am a twenty-four-seven police officer that fights the inequities and injustices in my city. Undaunted by the heat that rises to and beyond 120 degrees, I face the world and my work with eager anticipation. Welcome to Las Vegas, the Oasis in the desert.
