Kudos to the bravery of law-enforcement personnel and private citizens - Watertown Daily Times
We are fortunate to have so many courageous, intelligent dedicated law-enforcement personnel.
As reporter Ed Zagorski’s story in Thursday’s Watertown Daily Times outlined, the Dodge County Executive Law Enforcement Association this week recognized some of the brave law enforcement officers, behind-the-scenes staff and citizens who made outstanding and often valiant efforts toward keeping the people of our community safe.
It has become repugnantly fashionable in some circles to vilify law enforcement and to advocate for defunding police, when the overwhelming majority of these officers are the ones struggling mightily to address the problems society has thrown at them. It’s like blaming your lawn mower because the grass is so long.
Certainly there are bad cops, and union regulations and the unspoken blue code of silence too often keep these miscreants from being weeded out of our systems. Nevertheless, we should never use a broad brush to extrapolate the behavior of deviants to the vast majority of distinguished law-enforcement personnel.
There is no doubt that most police officers, deputies, troopers and others in law enforcement might have some of the most challenging duties around. They routinely put their own lives on the line, sometimes without a moment’s notice, and have to make split-second decisions that can mean the difference between life and death for themselves and others.
We owe them a debt of thanks for their service. They are what separates civil society from barbarism. They bring the order to law and order and allow all of us the luxury of living in a world where might does not make right, but that democracy and the rule of law carry the day.
And that is why it is particularly important to salute the law-enforcement personnel whose integrity, bravery and selflessness are so under appreciated.
The stories of heroism that were honored included saving a suicidal person who was about to jump, breaking up a potential hostage situation and using negotiating tactics to defuse what looked like an erupting violent confrontation. And these stories are the tip of the iceberg.
It is altogether appropriate that we lionize these great acts, not because we want to engage in mindless hero worshipping, but because it reminds us of how difficult policing is, and how fortunate that we have highly skilled and brave individuals who are using their reason, savvy and experience to make our world a better place, to prevent the loss of life or the destruction or theft of property.
It serves, too, as an inspiration to all law enforcement, setting the bar high and showing all of them that the difference between being good and great is the willingness to fearlessly apply that training and that rational insight to turn what could be tragedy into something extraordinary.
And it tacitly confirms that sadly even well intentioned and carefully planned approaches by law enforcement don’t always end well. Sometimes fate or circumstances beyond anyone’s control override even the best conceived strategies. This is always part of what makes this job difficult. There are times when even all the right people doing everything right is not enough. It’s the painful truth that is hardest of all to bear.
But that is why, when things go right, we need to exemplify that effort, to put it on a pedestal, and hold it up as a shining example of what can happen when dedicated law-enforcement personnel, and even citizens — such as the 4-year-old boy who helped save his grandmother — summon keen thinking and valor to snatch glorious life from the jaws of catastrophe.
So a well deserved hats off to all those honored by the DCELEA for making our world a better place and for helping keep us all safe and sound. It’s the comfort and peace of mind we take for granted far too often, until it is not there.
source: https://www.wdtimes.com/opinion/editorials/article_dea4d5a0-958c-11ec-bb96-fb86ca5361aa.html
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