10-10 at the War Bonnet

A story from the archives.

10-10

I worked patrol on the Menominee Indian reservation from 1994-1998. Dispatch and patrol used ten-codes to communicate calls or problems that an officer needed to respond to. You can now get a copy of ten-codes off the Internet, but at the time, they were sort of a secret. Some of the most common were 10-4 (acknowledged), 10-12 (standby), 10-20 (location), and 10-76, meaning I’m enroute. One of the most common calls and most exciting I would hear would be “Menominee, twelve-six-nine, 10-10, War Bonnet” The War Bonnet was the most popular bar on the Rez and a 10-10 is a fight in progress. Sometimes, it involved multiple subjects, sometimes it involved weapons, every time, the subjects were intoxicated to some degree. Regardless, I would respond, “twelve-six-nine’s 10-76”. 

10-10 is an important call. It is one of the first you memorize. It is one of the few ten codes that all units responded to. It’s dangerous, it’s time consuming and for young eager officers, it’s exciting. You knew your partner would need backup on this call. The purpose for answering this call though, was to save lives. Most of the time, there were only minor injuries. However, a few times, there was serious bodily harm. Once, a man was shot in the neck, he lived. Once a man was stabbed in the lung, he lived. Intent to kill was there. Once I was cornered by three men with pool sticks, they lived. I am there to save lives. 

John 10:10 The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. 

The thief is our enemy, the Enemy of God. Since day one, the enemy has picked a fight with God’s people. His goal is to take out as many of us as possible. To steal our freedom, kill our hope and destroy our faith. This fight has been waging since then, and it has been very one-sided. We were losing. 

1 Timothy 1:15 It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost.

However, some time ago, God dispatched a call, “10-10 Earth.” Yeshua the Son of God responded. There was a fight in progress here, His people are fighting against the forces of darkness (Ephesians 6:12). Christ came to save sinners. To save our lives, not physical, but spiritual. Not life on earth but eternal life with Him. Not a day to day subservient life, but one of abundance in Christ. Our Savior needs to respond to this call only once. We fear no more of what our enemy can do. The Enemy has been defeated. It is finished.

Luke 19:10  For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.

The lost refers to those that are spiritually separated from God. That is nearly every one of us. That can be those living in sin, or feeling hopeless and without purpose. To seek refers to Christ's continuous search for those sinners He does not wait for them to find Him or accept Him into their hearts. To save means to rescue from sin, to offer redemption, and to bring them to His home, the kingdom of God. 

When I arrived at The War Bonnet, all I could do was arrest the agitators and provide medical assistance to those hurt. Those acts were infinitely minute and temporary in comparison to what Christ can do for them. Just as Richard Dahlstrom said about Christ, “I can't, You never said I could; but You can, and always said You would.