OCR Text |
Show " J ' ' " ,. s j" Sjr":f J by JHNNIMiR POOL I: Tom Allman, Police Officer for Democracy Lt. Allman, back horn In Wlllits. Calif., hai a new appreciation of democracy. Sheriff's LtTom Allman is spending ended With the aim of building trust, the U.N. The level of ethnic animosity he witnessed the day at home in the rural Northern California officers were quartered with Serb or Albanian fam- l-tween Serbs and Albanians was difficult to han- mwii of Willits ( jhi. 4,9V). building a fence so his ilu s in the community. die. "I've never seen a level of (differences) like that two wmrig U)s now at baseball practice (an "VC'e were meant to be an example of police the before," Allman says. "raise some i titters." way they should be," Allman says. Nonetheless, he retains hope for change. He An ordinary Saturday in Anient a. (x rlups, but With the ruling Serb military "indisringuish- showed off a photograph of two young journal- Allman doesn't take life or democracy lor granted able" from local law enforcement for the previous ists one a Serb and one an Albanian working anymore, not after the extraordinary year -t side by side at Pristinas radio station, lit ust spent serving as a I 'inrcd Nations , each producing a news broadcast in police olfiter in war-torn Kosovo tj Vi ffCt etf his own language. "I in glad to Ik luck." he says simply jJjy 1,' tf Qfffcl ' Ji 'm ' "I figure it will take about three What motivates a man to take on a i ' sJT I . ' ; generations to get rid of the hate fac- tlangerous assignment in a Ixmikd-out I I I tor," he says. my hallway across the world, away from -"H -Z!Tm''- Allman's final assignment was work-ins work-ins wife and children' A sense ol respon- ', t s J f f" ing to ensure that the municipal elec-sibility elec-sibility was a good part of it. J . i ' M 'i 'ions last Oct. 28 were "free and fair." "What an opportunity this was to r? "They went without a hitch," All-act All-act as a stepping stone tor democracy in v ' ' man says with a smile, "which is more a new country, Allman says. It was also u,,- flJLl . . , . , "Ait I, ,4 than we can say about our own election." a chance to serve. "I'd never been in the ' . JWiw-k ' Allman gave away more than 500 military before, and I guess I'd always . "T? t '' il " ' , . U.S. flags in Kosovo and returned wanted to be." - , ' y ' " home as proud as ever to be an Amer- The U.N s international force, 3,200 if I I f ' 'H ", ican. But his experiences did broaden civilian Hlice olti ers from 2 countries, ' ' . , ' j 1 J " '3 his conservative politics. "I really had was charged with maintaining law and v . " " ' t T I , f s!'' my eyes opened to the humanitarian order in Kosovo until local police forces ' I I 1 ' : side," he says. were trained Allman was stationed in ,j ; " 1 v " "What is democracy anyway?" All- Pnstina, the capital city of what had once V jT -J ltJf ' ' 'v '-i" man asks. "We talked about that a lot Uen a region of Yugoslavia and recently W-- 'll jV'-'- f " ? w" there, but nobody ever answered the has been the scene of intense fighting ' " ,'r?.t''1 ' question. It's easier to say what it's not i .I i hi Allman (neht) and friend on duty in Prittina, Komvo helpins police a nation. . . ... between Serbs and Albanians. k i it s not tyranny, it s not communism. "We were the actual police," Allman says "We 10 years, Allman says residents especially Albani- One thing it might be is the opportunity for a responded to domestic assaults and robleries, and ans had learned to expect the worst. husband and father from Willits, Calif, to show we gave out traffic tickets." One day, some street kids started enthusiastical- others what it means to live free of fear and that's The office rs also faced car bombs, random ly applauding Allman as he was giving out a traffic a lesson neither is soon to forget. grenade attacks, constant power outages, and "two ticket Confused, Allman asked his interpreter to or three deaths a week" from land mines that still explain They're happy you're not beating him," Jennifer Poult is a frttlanct untcr and tditur from were exploding a year and a half after the war had the man replied Willits. Calif. Page 4 American Profile |