Ive got to tell you - its been a little tough lately. Seems like there are some high profile people on the national stage who are bent on weakening the bond between police and the communities they serve. The 24-hour news cycle is no help: the big news organizations profit by drawing in viewers (to sell advertising) and when if it bleeds, it leads is the operating philosophy, we get constantly bombarded with negative imagery which can falsely cause the belief that the truly unusual is actually normal. If thats not all bad enough, todays technology and social media allow near instantaneous transmittal and sharing of opinion and perception without the valuable chance for a person to calm down and temper their communication before its sent. The result is that right now, at least in the national news, in some of the halls of power and social media, law enforcement officers are being painted in a bad light. Over the weekend I was having coffee with a 20-year veteran of police work and I commented that I couldnt imagine that many of our best-and-brightest young people are considering a career in law enforcement. How could they, with everything going on? My friend assured me, though, that there are so many good, supportive folks out there who make up the silent majority and still appreciate their local police officers. He told me that in the last week, he had been the subject of three separate random acts of kindness by local residents who wanted to show their police department that they care. Im sure if I polled the other members of the department, theyd have similar stories. It made me feel better, and gave me hope. Thank-you, good people, for forming the foundation - no, the bedrock - of our community and our society. You are the reason why we are proud to serve. Why working nights, weekends, and holidays in rough conditions are all worth it. We hope you all have a wonderful holiday season and a most excellent 2015.
Posted on: Tue, 23 Dec 2014 19:30:26 +0000
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