This is National Police Week, a time set aside to honor the tens of thousands of law enforcement officers from across this country that put their lives on the line every day. They help protect the rest of us from the corrupt, the violent, the drug-addled, the perverse, the worst of the worst who tear at the fabric of our society.
Lately, most of what we have heard in the news about the police has been bad. Critics pile on, creating the impression that the misjudgments of a few police officers are representative of all the police. That’s wildly unfair.
Here are just a few recent examples of well-trained, professional police officers making a difference in their communities or putting themselves in harm’s way.
— In Garland, Texas, authorities are crediting an off-duty police officer hired for additional security with thwarting the terrorist attack by two heavily armed jihadists. Garland Police spokesman Jim Harn said the unidentified officer “did what he was trained to do, and under the fire that he was under, he did a very good job and probably saved lives.”
— Last weekend, Montgomery County, Md., police officer David Reed revived an unresponsive and unconscious infant who had stopped breathing. Reed described taking the heel of his hand and striking the child on the shoulder blade. “The eyes opened… kind of a startled look on the baby’s face. It began to cry and I knew we were good.”
— In Arlington, Texas, police officers K. Johnson and B. Cruze ran inside a burning apartment building and started banging on doors and escorting people to safety last week.
— Two Chicago police officers were recognized last March for helping save the life of a man at Midway Airport. Officers Walter Bland and John Munoz performed CPR on a man who had collapsed until paramedics could get there.
— In Griffin, Ga., Sgt. Joe Hudson is credited with running inside a burning, smoke-filled home and carrying a three-year-old child to safety. “I could see until I got to that back bedroom where it was really thick, almost impossible to breathe,” Hudson said. “I opened the door and saw him. I grabbed him.”
— In Blacksburg, Va., Virginia Tech police officer Kendrah Cline was the first on the scene last February when student Michael Senoyuit suffered a seizure and his heart stopped. She performed CPR and kept him alive until medical personnel arrived.
— When police arrived on the scene of a bad accident in Mesquite, Texas, last month they found a car on fire and an unconscious man at the wheel. Police officers pulled him to safety moments before the entire vehicle was engulfed.
— On New Year’s Day, Lewisburg, W.Va, police officers Nicholas Sams and Jeromy Dove were wounded in a shootout with suspects wanted for the murders of a North Carolina couple.
— And most recently, Hattiesburg, Miss., police officers Benjamin Deen and Liquori Tate were shot and killed during a traffic stop. Deen was a former “Officer of the Year” with the department, while Tate was a recent graduate of the law enforcement academy.
Events are scheduled every day in Washington, D.C., for National Police Week, culminating in the 34th Annual National Peace Officers’ Memorial Service on Friday where officers who died in the line of duty will be honored.
Sure, police make mistakes and a few even abuse their authority, but the majority adhere to their oath to protect and serve. They’re on our side.