David Caldwell Jr. - On Law Enforcement (clip)
Interviewed by Blanche Brown on April 24, 2012
Blanche Brown (BB): So, did you have any brothers and sisters?
David Caldwell, Jr. (DC): Three brothers.
BB: Three brothers, all boys?
DC: All boys, yes.
BB: Okay, and I really–I know that your father was a police officer, right?
DC: Yes, he was a police officer in Chapel Hill. We’ve all retired out of law enforcement. I retired a lieutenant from Orange County, another brother retired a lieutenant from UNC, or was a lieutenant at UNC, third brother was a retired captain at UNC, and my youngest brother retired a captain from Carrboro Police Department.
BB: Wow, so all of you went into the–into law enforcement.
DC: Pretty much, yeah I even have a, we have a cousin that is the police chief in Mebane, and his father retired a captain from UNC.
BB: What’s that like to come from that sort of family?
DC: You always got something to talk about at the table at Thanksgiving. [Laughter] You know you could always talk about the different things that were going on, and then what happened and the weird things you see on the street and, you know, it was never the same, but it was always interesting. Especially some nights we’d all be working at the same time every once in a blue moon, and we’d get to meet each other, sit around and talk while working. That was pretty neat.
BB: Cool. What made you decide to sort of follow in your dad’s footsteps in that way?
DC: It wasn’t a – I don’t even think that’s what it was, it was – ‘cause I remember talking about it as a kid he never once said, “You guys should be cops. That’s something you should get into, you need to get into law enforcement.” He never said – if anything, he tried to dissuade us from getting into law enforcement. Talked about how hard it was, and the night shifts, and the irregular schedules, and the way the people treat you and everything, and it just happened to be something that we were all good at. It was never pushed like I said, it was – you know the opportunity and the chance came around and we tried it and everybody pretty much liked it, and we just ended up doing it.
BB: Alright, fair enough.
