What would we do without police?
To the Times:
It’s always been my opinion that there aren’t that many important jobs in the world. And by important, I don’t mean salary size or cocktail party status. I’m talking about making a a difference - nurses, teachers, scientists working to cure diseases. And at the risk of being labeled a racist, I put police officers near the top of that list. That’s right, cops the punching bags of an increasingly intolerant and myopic society.
It’s now fashionable to shake our heads and ask what we should do with the police. My question is the polar opposite: What would we do without them? When police officers enter a burning house to save a child, when they provide CPR to a heart track victim or deliver a baby in the back of a car, when they thwart a home invasion or arrest a rapist, they don’t gauge the skin color of the people they’re helping. They do it because it’s their job, and day in, day out, they do it incredibly well.
After a career in public service - FBI agent, prosecutor, state legislator - I entered the private sector, handling labor relations for a national utility contractor. In that capacity, I came into frequent contact with power linemen, and quickly realized that theirs is a job where they can never lose concentration, even for a second. Because if their minds wander for even an instant, not only can they botch the job; they can die. That is precisely the case with our police and, like power linemen, the “routine” tasks are the ones that hold such danger - the vehicle stop, the domestic disturbance, the burglary alarm, always accompanied by the awareness that, no matter how well trained they may be, each of these can cause their death, and the devastation of their families.
On top of that, our police are required to make split-second decisions on matters that would give pause to the most learned scholars of constitutional law, knowing full well that even the slightest err in judgment might result in criminals being set free, thus endangering law abiding citizens.
Considering the countless police actions that occur daily throughout the country, it should be obvious to even the most jaundiced observer that what occurred in Minneapolis, while tragic, represents an extremely rare exception, rather than the rule. While a cause for concern - though in no way a justification for rioting and looting - it is a matter to be handled by the criminal justice system.
A bitter irony is that the same police who are condemned as racists continue to willingly enter the combat zones of our major cities in an effort to quell the black-on-black genocide that occurs there every day. And if black lives truly matter - which they do, since all life is precious - why don’t we hear more about that? Where are the demonstrations on behalf of life?
I , for one, will always be grateful that, despite the danger and the undeserved abuse heaped on them by an ungrateful public, our men and women in blue continue to answer the bell, doing their best to hold the thin line that separates civilization from anarchy. And I pray that God and St. Michael will watch over them every day of their lives.
Stephen F. Freind, Havertown