Deputy anxious about knocking on doors

I still get anxious every time I deliver a warrant, eviction papers, legal documents, anything…

I know intellectually that some of these encounters— by the nature of what they are and (I’m just being honest) the neighborhoods we often go to serve the paperwork— are more dangerous than others.

Some shouldn’t be confrontational at all, and many (maybe even most) of the people I have to serve or pleasant when I meet them. They aren’t surprised to see me. They’ve been expecting me— or someone in my position.

But I have a friend— actually an acquaintance— who was shot delivering a warrant. I know of others who had dogs unleashed on them, some officers who had residents come out and fight them….

I know there’s wisdom in being careful. For sure.

But I never felt the anxiety about this part of the job until I started hearing some of the stories and then began reading my own situation in light of what they experienced.