Officer’s slaying is tragedy with multiple facets

We leave for work every day with the anticipation of completing our workday without a lot of job-related headaches and heading home to spend some quality time with family or friends.

Police officers have the same expectation, although, unlike the rest of us, they know that what can seem like a simple interaction with a citizen can turn deadly.

What seemed like a simple traffic stop Saturday night turned deadly for Memphis police officer Sean Bolton, 33, who was fatally shot several times by an assailant, whom police identified as Tremaine Wilbourn, 29. Wilbourn, who surrendered to authorities Monday, was on supervised release from prison after being convicted of robbing a Covington, Tennessee, bank in 2005. He was released from prison a year ago.

Police said the shooting occurred after Bolton saw a car parked illegally on a Parkway Village street. As Bolton approached the car, the passenger got out and a struggle ensued. Police said the passenger opened fire, striking Bolton several times at close range. Police think Bolton interrupted a penny-ante drug deal.

Officers know that when they leave the police academy, wearing their new badge, they are entering a realm where they are the front line against predators who prey on law-abiding residents, as well as predators who prey upon each other. They are expected to conduct this defense with courtesy and restraint — unless circumstances dictate otherwise.

Officer Bolton, who friends said “wanted to be a friendly cop,” was a dedicated soldier in that battle. He and other police officers killed in the line of duty deserve to be able to complete their shifts and go home. So, does every police officer who patrols Memphis streets. Unfortunately, there are people whose actions prevent that from happening.

Police officers know that. Citizens sometimes forget that for police the routine can turn deadly.

Officer Bolton’s slaying is a true tragedy. His accused assailant, who is African-American, however, did more than kill a police officer. He set back the important conversation that was taking place on how police patrol inner-city neighborhoods and react to young black men.

That conversation was taking place in the context of a national focus on police officers fatally shooting unarmed black men, with video taken by bystanders or police cameras raising questions of whether officers unnecessarily used deadly force. Memphis still is grappling with the fatal shooting of an unarmed 19-year-old black man by a white officer during a struggle after a traffic stop July 17.

The slaying of Officer Bolton reinforces the idea in some circles that officers have to handle young black males differently. These kinds of incidents justifiably put officers on edge, possibly resulting in tenser encounters between citizens an officers.

There is something else that has be said here, something that likely will ruffle some feathers.

Memphis and other cities where inner-city neighborhoods are infected with gun-violence have got to find a way to harness the anger and rage that are causing too many young black males to use a gun to settle disputes.

Longer prison sentences for gun crimes has not curbed the violence. Programs to prevent children from becoming gun-wielding criminals have yet to have a major impact. That doesn’t mean, however, we should stop trying.

Sean Bolton was trying to make a difference. So are the other law enforcement officers who put their lives on the line every time they begin their shifts.

The killing has to stop.