Cops Recount The Saddest Thing A Criminal Has Ever Said To Them

Cold Comfort At It's Worst

"I nicked a guy for attempted murder once."

"I had met him before a few times, usually when he was a suspect."

"He just said 'even now, you're still the closest thing I've got to a proper friend'."- ConsTisi

They Learn At A Young Age, For Better Or Worse

"Work security in a town's retail supermarket."

"Watched the local drug dealer force his son of about 8 to shoplift some pastries."

"Nothing about this boy would have made him stand out as this man's son, just an ordinary looking kid but his father wanted to make him into a man by teaching him how to steal."

"Four years later and this boy is clearly his fathers son."- Seoirse82

Their Fate Is Already In the Cards

"Ex cop."

"Speaking to a juvenile in the cells with a butt load of warrants for stealing cars and armed robberies."

"Told me the only way he could get toys is if he stole them, and his parents would never help him with his homework but showed him what to say to get free McDonald's and how to avoid getting caught shop lifting."

"Some kids have no hope and are just going to end up in the system."- Terror_Tanuki

Some Rob Out Of Necessity

"A lot of stores were looted, and people were walking off with multiple TVs, appliances etc."

"Some citizen journalist was out on the streets, stopping looters, and interviewing them."

"It's winter, it's dark, and suddenly this little kid appears, holding a single bag."

"All alone."

"Couldn't have been more than 8."

"The citizen journalist stops him, and demands to see what's in the bag."

"He opens it up."

"One t-shirt."

"One jersey."

"One pair of pants."

"One pair of shoes."

"A three pack of underwear."

"This little kid had followed a group of adults into a chaotic situation and taken what he needed, and only what he needed."

"I can't watch the clip without sobbing."

"The interviewer sent the kid off with his little bag of one single, looted outfit."

"The final shot is of this tiny little thing, walking into the darkness, barefoot and alone."

"It was absolutely heartbreaking."- GCB78

Victims Of Circumstance

"Afghan in 2011-2012."

"Was on patrol pretty much doing cop work sometimes."

"We’d go door to door or compound to compound and our Lieutenant would talk to locals with our translator."

"During one of the meetings I was inside working as a sort of guard for my Lt."

"The guy he was talking to came up positive for gun trace residue and was a confirmed Taliban in the eye scanner thing we had."

"When my Lt questioned him before we detained him, he told my Lt that he didn’t want to fight us, but if he didn’t the Taliban would kill his family."

"I was 18-19 and my Lt was 24-25, now I’m 29 and I realize that war was all f*cked."- surf0302

Desperate To Change Their Circumstance

"I worked in a day program and a prevocational program."

"My clients came from institutions and were doing program as part of their conditions of release."

"One of my groups ran a hotdogs cart and they profit shared, after cart expenses."

"They made very little, they were on assistance so it wasn't an income supplement it was more of a perk."

"Anyways I had this one woman, she had been a sex worker since she 12, she was in her 40s."

"Her first week was a nightmare."

"She was late."

"Struggled to cut the onions."

"Spilt everything."

"But she showed up each day late, frantic and crying to not be fired."

"She worked for 1 hour each day."

"The following week when she came to pick up her pay, a whole whopping $11.50, she burst into tears."

"I thought it was because it was it was so little money."

"She acted as if I had given her a thousand dollars and an Oscar."

"She clutched the little envelope and cried."

"She said 'it's the first money I ever made not on my back'."

"'Never thought I could'."

"We hugged she skipped off happily."

"Then I sobbed in the bathroom for 5 minutes."- MoxieAndSass

A Warning For Others...

"Sex worker asked if I had a daughter & likely could tell by my face that I did before I could answer."

"Tell her she's two bad choices away."- jjreason

Truth And Lies At School

"I know someone who was shadowing an investigator for child welfare."

"One kid was said to being being beat up and down the school by a teacher but the kid hadn't a bruise on him."

"That was until the investigator, called out even if it turns into a hoax or lie, turned off the lights and used a black light on the kids skin."

"The kids skin tone was so deep, bruises didn't show."

"He was mottled with them once they got the light on him and eventually confirmed by a Dr."

"Another kid said a teacher attacked him."

"They investigate and through looking in the cctv they see the teacher leading the kid into the prayer room, the only place besides toilets where there's no cameras."

"Also had a kid say a teacher hit her."

"She'd a bruise and they had to investigate."

"Teacher claimed they didn't and only had scolded her for being late to class that day."

"Then after lunch this all started."

" They ask her friends and they all say it was the teacher."

"The investigator gets a hunch and asks the school nurse."

"She says the student came in with a sore arm because she walked awkwardly into a door or something innocent."

"Teacher got proven innocent but his reputation was damaged."- isaidyothnkubttrgo

Remorse?

"I'm not a cop, but I remember when the AME church shooter told the arresting officer, 'I almost didn't do it, because they were so nice to me'."- notthesedays

Distraught Parents

"Bro's a cop."

"He came home crying and told us a few years later."

"He pulled someone over for speeding and saw a devastated couple."

"'I'm so sorry, my daughter, she died, she's dead'."

"He asked 'What?'"

"' Car crash. We must see her, one last time'."

"My brother was crying at this point."

"There happened to be a car crash a few miles up the road."

"A girl was killed."

"She was hit by a drunken driver."

"He was crying and showed up to comfort everyone."

"Everyone involved was dead."

"He showed up to all the funerals and memorials for them."

"DON'T DRIVE DRUNK PEOPLE!"- Lonely_Person_1670

Wanting To Get Caught

"Not a cop, but I worked for a private security company a while back."

"We'd drive around town inspecting client sites for vagrant activity, and log or report what we found."

"Some of them were for the city, like the public library."

"The library always had homeless people sleeping in the bushes that we had to tell to leave."

"There was one guy, I remember him distinctly because he had a red sleeping bag, he was there every night."

"We'd roll up around 3am to clear people out, and he'd just walk across the street, wait for us to leave, and then go back into the bushes to sleep until we came around again at 6am."

"Finally I asked him why he slept there, knowing he was going to get rudely awakened twice a night."

"He said the library was the safest place in town to sleep, because it had nightly security patrols and it was right down the road from the police station."

"He'd been sleeping there for four years."- No_Improvement7573

One Simple Request

"Not a cop, but my dad is a defense attorney and he had a client who was sentenced to 20 years in prison."

"As his final request, he asked my dad to get him a Quizno's sub before he was sent to the main prison."

"He said that he had always heard how good Quizno's was but had never tried one and wanted to try one before going to prison."

"Unfortunately, the prison security would not allow my dad to bring the sub through screening and he wasn't able to try Quizno's :(."- Rodby

Day in and day out, cops and others working in criminal justice are forced to come face to face with the fact that not everyone is dealt an equal hand in life.

And learn that some people break the law, not for self-gain, but because they truly and utterly feel that they have no other choice.

Making the need for programs to help them find a better path forward all the more important.