Don’t buy into the lie that cops are your enemy. I spent 9 years behind a badge in two different agencies and endured things most of you reading these words will thankfully never have to experience. It is a very different profession, at times with deadly outcomes. Each day hundreds of thousands of police-citizen interactions take place. The vast majority are simple and honorable acts of service. Only a microscopic statistical speck of those interactions results in violence.

A lynch mob is trolling the current political landscape looking for people to believe their press. They are using news agencies and social media platforms to paint a picture of cops that is simply a lie. There will always be tragic outcomes resulting from prejudiced people who put on a badge. A police agency should always strive to do better in all areas of service. These realities are always present and need our wise engagement, as we try to find a way forward. As communities continue to cope with these issues, a cop will always be there when your life is in jeopardy willing to put themselves between you and harm’s way hoping to go home to their loved ones at the end of their shift.

I had to chuckle remembering a poster I saw in the 1970s when the social disorder was hot like it is today. The poster read, “The next time you need help, call a hippy.” Don’t allow yourself to be played by the purveyors of division and disinformation thinking a community is better served without a professional police presence. We should do all things in life with more compassion and excellence, including law enforcement. It just takes cool and wise heads working together to determine how we get there.