Springboard 10: Rank and Title
How did you get where you are today professionally? Did you always want to do the job you do now? Did you just fall into it? Do you have dreams of promotion? Another profession? Talk about it!
I was never going to be anything else but a cop. I never fell into this job. I never chose it either. I remember the Academy, they ask you why you became a cop. A lot of the people in my class had the same answer, they wanted to protect and serve. Me? I was there because it was required that I become a cop. See, it's a family legacy. Murphy's have always worked for the Chicago PD. My dad was a cop before me, just like his dad before him, just like his dad and so on. Don't get me wrong, I wanted to become a cop but it wasn't just for the high and mighty ideals of protecting and serving. I got into this line of work because if I didn't... well that idea just never entered into my head.
Before he retired, my dad was a Captain. He worked mob cases, that was his specialty. My Grandpa Murphy, he was only a Sergeant, but he was famous for busting a ring of dirty cops taking pay offs from pimps. You head down to the department archives, you'll find my family, the South Side Murphys, we've always been in this department since we came over from Ireland. The city, the police department, they're part of our genetic make up now. I do this job because it's in my blood and I can't do anything else.
I am the first woman Murphy in my family to pick up the badge though. Normally my family keeps breeding until there's a son and he's the heir apparent to the badge. My parents divorced before that could happen, sticking me with the responsibility. And my dad made sure I was ready for it. With my mom around, the training was pretty light, just the usual cops and robbers games. After she left, that's when dad got serious. He started taking me to work more, to see how things were done. He didn't hide his cases in his office any more. I could stumble across them spread out over the dinner table after my mom left. It was like he stopped trying to keep family life and work separate. My dad was always a cop.
Even groomed as I was for this job, I've struggled my way through to my rank. Women don't get made Lieutenants at the drop of the hat. Chicago is possibly one of the most old school departments left in the world. As forward thinking as it projects itself, this is a boy's club. If you're a woman and you want rank, you've got to work for it, a lot harder than a lot of the guys. Or you sleep your way up the ladder. I've seen it and it pisses me off. It cheapens what I've done, what every woman who's worked for her rank has done. I got where I am by hard work and sacrifice. And probably a little nepotism too. Everyone in the department knows my dad, his reputation helped me, even if no one in the brass will admit it.
My name is Lieutenant Connie Murphy, my rank, this job has become part of my identity that's how I got where I am today.
I was never going to be anything else but a cop. I never fell into this job. I never chose it either. I remember the Academy, they ask you why you became a cop. A lot of the people in my class had the same answer, they wanted to protect and serve. Me? I was there because it was required that I become a cop. See, it's a family legacy. Murphy's have always worked for the Chicago PD. My dad was a cop before me, just like his dad before him, just like his dad and so on. Don't get me wrong, I wanted to become a cop but it wasn't just for the high and mighty ideals of protecting and serving. I got into this line of work because if I didn't... well that idea just never entered into my head.
Before he retired, my dad was a Captain. He worked mob cases, that was his specialty. My Grandpa Murphy, he was only a Sergeant, but he was famous for busting a ring of dirty cops taking pay offs from pimps. You head down to the department archives, you'll find my family, the South Side Murphys, we've always been in this department since we came over from Ireland. The city, the police department, they're part of our genetic make up now. I do this job because it's in my blood and I can't do anything else.
I am the first woman Murphy in my family to pick up the badge though. Normally my family keeps breeding until there's a son and he's the heir apparent to the badge. My parents divorced before that could happen, sticking me with the responsibility. And my dad made sure I was ready for it. With my mom around, the training was pretty light, just the usual cops and robbers games. After she left, that's when dad got serious. He started taking me to work more, to see how things were done. He didn't hide his cases in his office any more. I could stumble across them spread out over the dinner table after my mom left. It was like he stopped trying to keep family life and work separate. My dad was always a cop.
Even groomed as I was for this job, I've struggled my way through to my rank. Women don't get made Lieutenants at the drop of the hat. Chicago is possibly one of the most old school departments left in the world. As forward thinking as it projects itself, this is a boy's club. If you're a woman and you want rank, you've got to work for it, a lot harder than a lot of the guys. Or you sleep your way up the ladder. I've seen it and it pisses me off. It cheapens what I've done, what every woman who's worked for her rank has done. I got where I am by hard work and sacrifice. And probably a little nepotism too. Everyone in the department knows my dad, his reputation helped me, even if no one in the brass will admit it.
My name is Lieutenant Connie Murphy, my rank, this job has become part of my identity that's how I got where I am today.