WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — Communities across the nation are honoring their law enforcement officers during the 2019 Police Week.
You see Central Georgia's first responders on 13WMAZ all the time, but who really are the people who swear to serve and protect?
We sat down with three Warner Robins police officers to hear what life is like behind the badge.
Each had a unique perspective.
Officer Ray Ewings has been a fully-certified officer since January.
Detective Karmen Thompson is in her fifth year on the job.
Acting Chief John Wagner has been with the department for nearly 30 years.
We asked them some simple questions. Their answers were as nuanced as the job they do.
"A police officer is kinda like riding a roller coaster," said Wagner. "You spend a lot of time going up the hill, you get to see the peak, then it goes back down and you ride again. There's never anything that is the same."
"I've got to make sure I'm in the right place at the right time," said Ewings. "I'm always listening to the radio."
Their job takes them to uncommon -- and sometimes uncommonly difficult --situations.
"I think about the children that have passed," said Wagner. "I've seen that."
So what keeps them coming back?
"If I didn't have a community that backed me like this, it would be a lot harder," said Thompson. "I have a great community I serve and I love serving it. I live here and I'm going to raise my children here."
And though they often find themselves separated from the public by a tapeline, all three agreed: just because they've put on the uniform doesn't mean they've left their real selves behind.
"We're just normal people," said Ewings. "It might not seem like it sometimes, but at the end of the day, I'm just like you."