My Heroes... Police...

A few things happened this week that reminded me of how hard the police work, and how dangerous their job is. A few days ago, an officer knocked on the door. I don't usually open the door to strangers. The peephole doesn't give a great view, so I could only see that there was a person there. I didn't know it was an officer until he walked past the front window. I opened the door. He was checking to make sure everything was all right. There'd been a burglary down the street. They hadn't caught the suspect. I hadn't seen or heard a thing. I thanked him for doing his job. He was polite and pleasant.

I've watched what happened in Oakland, with the protesters complaining about police brutality. What baffles me is that the protesters admitted to starting the altercation by throwing rocks and glass bottles at the police. The mayor of Oakland is apologizing for the action the police took, to defend themselves. No clubs or bullets were used. They used the least damaging means available to them to protect as many as possible.

A border officer was sentenced to two years in prison for being "too rough." He was arresting a drug trafficker, who refused to obey. If the criminal had obeyed, he wouldn't have been hurt.

It seems as if the criminals have more rights than victims or the officers charged to serve and protect the public. Are there bad officers? Yes. Show me a profession that doesn't have a few bad apples, and I'll show you a profession that's lying to itself.

Tonight, I saw on the news that an officer was shot, and is fighting for his life.* I'm praying for him. May God bless him and all those who choose to honorably protect and serve.

*Update: Officer Brad Jones passed away. I'm praying for his family.