Suffice it to say that I can hardly be accused of living in a crime-infested, violent neighborhood. Many of my fellow residents and I are on a first name basis with our police officers. We have friendly conversations with them, wherever/whenever we see them on duty or off. At times, it is easy to take the officers of our force for granted – but even in the quiet bedroom community in which I reside, such should never be the case.
One night recently, a situation necessitated my calling the police to investigate. The officer's response time was commendable, but it was the courage he displayed in performing his duty that must be applauded. The situation was not what we feared when they were summoned, but at the time of his investigation that was not known.
We all owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to our domestic peacekeeping forces, i.e., local police departments. Local law enforcement is, in a sense, the stepchild of law enforcement. They receive none of the aggrandizement of their federal counterparts, and that is meant to take nothing away from the federal levels. Yet, they are the true first responders, and most often the ones who are maligned and litigated against.
Let there be no doubt: There are bad officers in the land, and there are also bad departments as a whole. I personally know of two departments – one that harbored racist alcoholics and a pedophile, and another with an officer-operated brothel. But they are the ugly exception – not the norm.
Local law enforcement doesn't have the luxury of waiting for someone else to show up. They are often undermanned and under-funded. Still, in the face of unimaginable situations, they are called upon and expected to be on the front lines. They are cursed for doing their jobs and cursed for not doing same. But we know they are always there.
They are all that stands between us and that element that would overrun us if not for their presence. On average, 165 law enforcement officers are killed in the line of duty each year. As a whole, they average 56,992 assaults on their person and sustain 16,138 injuries per year while performing their duties.
How many times do individuals send cards of condolence to the families of fallen officer? How many times do members of their community, the community they protect, gather to show them support in their hour of need? Thanks to the "I never do anything wrong" societal mentality of today, communities have entered into adversarial relationships with local law enforcement. The vilest thug is suddenly a sainted person when he is injured or killed by an officer in the dispensation of their duty.
No one questions what our cities and towns would be like if not for them. We do not sit at home and worry about what our family member will confront while at work, or if they will come home at the end of their shift – but their families do. We don't experience a fear that makes it difficult for us to breathe or a chilling of our senses when we hear a radio call or news report that says "an officer is down." But you can bet the families of police officers do.
Seventy-two officers gave their lives on 9/11. They didn't have the option of waiting for help to arrive or waiting for someone else to take the lead. They had a job to do and they did it willingly, giving their lives to save others.
I think it is long past time that communities give their police departments a break. I think it's time that we, as communities, find ways to recognize them and honor their service.
Several years ago, I wrote a piece outlining some of the things officers see and experience while on duty. While space does not permit me to do the same here – it is a truism to say that we sleep safe at night because of the jobs they do.
It is my opinion that if communities worked more closely with local law enforcement, two things would happen. The first is we would experience a dramatic decrease in crime – the other is that we would find that they are quite human.
It takes a special kind of individual to be a law enforcement officer. All of the officers I know, both on local and federal levels, are outstanding individuals, allowing of course for the erstwhile, villainous exceptions that darken the image of the good.
Those I know are not perfect, but they are human – and willing to die for our safety every minute of every day they are in uniform or on duty. How many of those who castigate and malign them can say the same? How many of their critics would sacrifice their lives for a family member, much less a stranger who may have, moments before, spit on them? What would happen to a community if law enforcement decided they cared more about their own safety than about stopping criminals, illegal weapons and drugs?