Red and blue lights flashed and sirens blared in pursuit of a speeding vehicle that had just blown past a stop sign. When the errant driver finally pulled over, he was greeted by two proud police officers – one tall and one very short. The shorter one was 7-year-old Officer Darrien, and his wish to be a police officer was coming true.

Darrien was diagnosed with neurofibromatosis, a genetic disorder affecting the nervous system and causing tumors and seizures. He has long idolized police officers and adores the TV show “Cops.” His grandfather was the chief of police in Evergreen, Ala. When wish granters from the Make-A-Wish Foundation® offered to grant Darrien’s heartfelt wish, he jumped at the chance to follow in his granddad’s footsteps.

“He really wants to take all the bad people off the street,” Darrien’s mother told a reporter from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “All of them.”

Detective Ron Waddell of the Smyrna (Ga.) Police Department, the son of a veteran wish-granting volunteer, rallied his fellow officers to help Darrien’s wish become reality. First, the chief of police invited Darrien for an official job interview and a uniform fitting. He hired Darrien on the spot.

At the department’s morning-shift meeting, the mayor of Smyrna presented Darrien with a proclamation declaring him an officer for the day. Officers readied him for the streets with an official police uniform, patrol hat, handcuffs, flashlight and a shiny gold badge making him officer No. 1273.

“He looks sharper than most of our officers,” Lt. William Hegwood remarked when Darrien proudly emerged in his new uniform. Then the two officers hit the beat – ready to protect and serve the city’s residents.

“[The officers] treated him like one of the guys,” said Kim Wolner, wish coordinator for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Georgia and Alabama. “They were really thrilled to be part of something so positive and were honored that his one wish was to meet them.”

Undercover officers posed as law breakers, staging crimes for Darrien to solve. First, he ticketed the aforementioned driver for running a stop sign; then he slapped the cuffs on a man for using a crowbar to break into an abandoned building. Darrien wisely decided that dealing with this dangerous criminal would require backup, and the entire Smyrna traffic unit responded to his call.

With lights flashing, Officer Darrien’s patrol car hurried back to the station. He and Lt. Hegwood followed official police protocol and filed a report to finish their shift. Darrien typed the report with one finger and aptly described the man he arrested as a “T-H-U-G.”

Several local television stations covered Darrien’s exciting wish, but the cameras didn’t distract him from his work. He thought it was just like being on “Cops.”

With his wish to “take bad people off the street” fulfilled, it was time to celebrate. Maggiano’s Little Italy restaurant treated Officer Darrien and his family to dinner, and employees decorated his booth in a police theme. The Make-A-Wish Foundation also presented him with a gift, a Razor scooter, in case he needed to chase down any law-breaking brothers and sisters around his house!

Darrien's wish was the 4,000th granted by the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Georgia and Alabama since its founding in 1995. All photos courtesy of Jessica Lily Horwitz of Jessica Horwitz Photography.

By Kathryn Roethel

Darrien's Police Wish Scrapbook