Frederick Robinson
Police Lieutenant, Veterans Affairs Police
My name is Rick Robinson, a current supervisory police lieutenant for the Department of Veterans Affairs Federal Police. I started my career as a police cadet in 1979. I always knew as a little kid that I wanted to be a police officer. Going outside, growing up in the projects, playing cops and robbers, I never wanted to be a robber; I always wanted to be a police officer and be the good guy who brings the bad guys in. I started my career in the City of New York as a police cadet, getting a small taste of what police life was about. I wanted to serve my community and start a family legacy of police officers, because the one thing that I enjoyed about being in law enforcement was the immediate gratitude and respect afforded to you when you helped someone who really needed your help. As time went on, I climbed through the ranks, and in 1999, I joined the Veterans Affairs Federal Police Department. This is not like any Police Department that you’ve ever worked for. The gratitude that you get from serving your community, helping Veterans who served, serving the public, and federal employees, is one of the most Indescribable feelings a police officer could ever experience–all in one day. This is not to say that every day was a good day, but when you can help a veteran by letting them know that you care as a uniformed police officer, it is very rewarding, and I wouldn’t change it for the world. I am honored to have the opportunity to be remembered in the National Law Enforcement Museum. My grandkids and kids can always come to the Museum and have that memory of him doing something that always made him happy. Policing has changed through the years, but if you get the right mentor and he or she teaches you the old police style way, which is honor, respect, and integrity, for the people that you serve, you’ll never work a day in your life. Cop for life. Always back the blue.
