Being married to a police officer has taught me many things. Some have been good. Some - not so good. Like many LEO spouses, I’ve learned to adapt not only my mentality but my schedule, my household, my expectations of control and normalcy in my own life, etc. I feel there are three things necessary to being successful as an LEO couple: compassion, cleaning savvy and comedy.

Compassion

Relationships can be especially tough when the added stress of one or both people being in law enforcement is added. People are nasty and meant and they do nasty and mean things to each other. A LEO spends most of his or her time being exposed to the worst in people and experiencing extremes in antisocial behavior. They see innocent victims of atrocious crimes or horrible accidents. They’re exposed to extreme hatred and prejudice. They are subject to verbal and physical assaults and sometimes witness their colleagues and friends murdered and/or attempts made on their own life. Out on the street many LEOs experience compassion fatigue. The stress created by natural emotion and the requirement to cloak natural emotion creates imbalance physiologically. This creates more physical, emotional and psychological stress.

Due to this added stress and compassion fatigue, many LEOs need to experience even more loving kindness from their partners. Many times providing this compassion can be tough for their significant other, especially when your officer comes come in a nasty mood, is withdrawn and you are already irritated over feeling like a single parent due to his or her overtime and shift work and you’re grouchy yourself. Try to remember your partnership. Life’s hard and you’re in it together. You’re on the same team. Have compassion for each other and try to set aside the ugliness of the world and be peaceful in the safety and security of your home and family. Create an environment that encourages and nurtures this. Neither of you needs to recreate the nastiness of the streets inside your front door. Have compassion for yourself as well. Care for each other, care for your family but also care for and have compassion for you.

Cleaning Savvy

Although many of the unique qualities important when having an officer as a significant other are emotional or character-based, one very important one is more practical. The ability, as well as, the knowledge of how to clean certain unusual items. The first time my husband came home and asked, “Do you know how to get blood out of a uniform?” I looked at him like a deer in the headlights. My mind raced, “Blood…out of a uniform…? How in the….ewwwwww!” My head tried to pull an answer from all my previous experience while my husband was shoving a bundle of clothes towards me. “Umm…no,” I said. Back then, I couldn’t just Google my answer so I did the retro-equivalent--I called my mom. She didn’t know off the top of her head (she was married to a career sailor), but together we figured out the answer. I disinfected the clothing, kept the blood from setting and then disinfected the washer after the cycle. I also have since learned the value of club soda, hydrogen peroxide and baking soda.

Another important cleaning tip I’ve learned is keeping the dirty uniforms (shoes, gunbelts, etc) separate from other laundry. With the threat of being contaminated by a variety of vile bacteria and germs, including MRSA (mer-suh), it’s important to have your significant other take off their uniform in a special spot, like the garage or laundry room. This way the contamination won’t get onto the carpet, the bed or onto other clothes potentially infecting the entire family. Uniforms should be washed separately and the washer disinfected afterwards. It’s a fact of life for LEO families; nasty stuff from the streets comes home with them.

Comedy