Protect thin blue line

When Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005 and New Orleans was decimated, leaving the city without police protection, there were video news reports of the looting and pillaging of the businesses, rapes, etc. I remember commenting to people at that time that if we lose our police force, this is what will happen to

America. We will turn into a lawless society where everyone will be on their own to defend their property and their families and their lives.

I certainly don’t condone the act of brutality which happened to George Floyd. It was barbaric and unacceptable. But America needs to wake up to the fact that if our response is to gut the authority and the ability of our police to do their job, we are going to lose the America we know and turn it over to violence and lawlessness which far exceed the occasional bad judgment and misguided act of a rogue officer. Can anyone justify the mass rioting and looting and destruction of property as a response to the death of George Floyd? When dealing with such displays of public lawlessness, the only way to bring it into submission is to exercise greater force against it. It is a sad day when that has become necessary. And it has become necessary because we have undermined the respect for authority of our law enforcement officials.

I am deeply saddened by the state my generation is leaving this country in for my children and grandchildren. America has made great strides in addressing acts of brutality by the police. According to one authority I heard on television, a black scholar, acts of violence by the police have been reduced since 1979 by over 90 percent. Yet we will allow the sensationalism of an occasional bad actor to override the hard work and the thin line of meeting destructive forces with just enough force to stop them, but not too much force so as to provoke a public outcry. Please, America, don’t erase that thin blue line. It is already barely visible.

GREGG MUELLER

Little Rock