Earlier this month, in Chicago, Illinois, there was an incident that required police action. You might assume that this is just another drug bust, or just another gang incident, or perhaps even just another homicide: I mean, we ARE talking about the Murder Capital of America here, right? Who knows what to expect. But this was something that is actually quite commonplace: a 17-year veteran of the Chicago Police Force had simply reported to the scene of a car crash. Eddie Johnson, the officer who arrived at the scene, was severely beaten by the 28-year-old man who was involved in the crash, having been beaten down to the ground and having her head smashed repeatedly until she eventually passed out. It took 2 other officers, who were also injured in the process, to get the man off of her, having to use both a taser and pepper spray to do so. The officer is fine, but her reason for not drawing her gun on her attacker, which is something that any other police officer would do, and is trained to do during an incident such as that, was simple: she didn’t want to have the negative attention drawn to herself, her family, or the Chicago Police Force for doing so. She was AFRAID to stand up for herself when she was getting hurt, for trying to help, and that is something that I think we all need to think about.
According to the Oxford Dictionaries, the definition of police is ‘the civil force of a national or local government, responsible for the prevention and detection of crime and the maintenance of public order.’ In other words, the job of a police officer is to maintain law and safety for everyone at all costs, even if it means arresting people, or even putting them to death. The police has to be able to do anything it takes to protect the people in the state, county, or community of which they live. SO, if their job is to protect people, why are they getting mistreated by American citizens of whom they are supposed to protect? Why are people treating them so badly, to the point where they want to beat and kill police officers, for no logical reason at all?
Exactly 99 police officers were killed in the line of duty this year, 44 of which were shot to death. July and March were the deadliest months this year, and the highest number of police fatalities occurred in Texas, with 17, and 94 males were killed, while 6 females were killed. The average age of those killed were 41, and their average length of duty was 13 years and 2 months. I don't know what you guys think, but I myself think that that is a true tragedy in itself.
I’m probably going to get a lot of judgments and negative words from some people who read this, but I honestly don’t care. My opinion of this whole mess is that we as American citizens simply need to behave. As I mentioned earlier, the job of the police is to do whatever it takes in order to protect us. Why do we want to disrespect and mistreat those who help us? The people who choose to go into law enforcement didn’t have to make that choice, but they choose to protect complete strangers, knowing perfectly well that each day they go into work brings new risks of getting hurt or killed for us. Like us, they have families at home and people who love them dearly, whether it be their children, spouses, siblings, or parents. We wouldn’t want anyone to kill of our loved ones, would we? No? So why do some American citizens today insist on hating the police so much, that they want to hurt or kill them, or to see them suffer? And what would happen if there were suddenly no police to protect us? Bad people would turn on the good people in America, and because there would be no policemen or women left in the world, or because they, like the Chicago police officer in the story that was shared in this article, would be too afraid for their lives or their family’s lives to do anything? What would become of us then? I hope that we all continue praying for and sending blessings toward our troops, and if you are reading this and are having a hatred for law enforcement for whatever reason, please take into consideration exactly how much America’s police actually does for yourself and your families that they don’t have to, but choose to. Please take into consideration that they, too, have families that they love and that love them dearly, and every day they have to take the risk of possibly leaving them for good to protect people that they may not even know. I couldn’t do it, so I certainly do admire them for what they do. Thank you so much to all of America’s Law Enforcement programs!
The URL link to the story about the Chicago Police
2016 USA Statistics on Law Enforcement Deaths
