What is it that people like about heroes? For me, a longtime fan of comic books and comic book superheroes, I think it’s the upstanding characteristics heroes possess.
Kindness, compassion, empathy, selflessness, and other qualities put heroes above the rest; they make heroes noble, cement them in people’s minds as idols and inspirations. These values and personality aspects are inherent in everyone, justifying the age-old notion that “anyone can be a hero.”
When I was a child, I learned this very adage first-hand. How so? I’d like to give credit for my realization to my dad, an officer with the Orange County Sherriff’s Office for more than sixteen years.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve equated my dad and the people he has worked with to the heroes I’ve read about and seen in comic books. Of course, they don’t wear spandex. They don’t have powers. They have no secret lairs or catchphrases or fancy means of transportation, unmarked cars aside. But they have the core aspects of heroes that I’ve mentioned; the goodness and the positivity that makes any hero, fictional or not, heroic. For me, the men and women across this nation who serve in law enforcement are real-life superheroes.
They fight to uphold justice, like a good superhero would; it’s the number one priority for everyone in uniform. They don’t ask for a whole lot in return, at the very least content with the knowledge that their loved ones, friends, and even complete strangers are kept out of harm’s way. They understand the meaning of teamwork and trust, working together just like the Justice League or the Avengers work together in the colorful pages of comics.
I sound a little idealistic, I know. Because comic books aren’t real life, at the end of the day.
While comic book heroes may get beaten and just get back up in the next issue to win the fight, the same can’t really be said for our police officers. In real life, the bad guys win sometimes. In real life, heroes can die.
Such cases can only be described as the most heartbreaking, most devastating thing to other officers and especially to the families associated with the officers who become victims.
Within the past week alone I’ve seen a lot of news reports about cops getting killed in the line of duty. These individuals do so much more for the community than we think, never showing apathy, scorn, or greed. They aren’t in it for themselves. All they want is to serve and protect the place they live in, the place that gave them the opportunities they needed most, the place that gives them shelter, food, and happiness. Is this kind of unfortunate, untimely, and unwanted end the reward for their hard work?
This kind of news really does hit home for me, for obvious reasons. I think of what would happen if my dad was a victim of one of these attacks, and I picture the anguish, the anger, the nigh-irreparable pain I would feel. In those moments I understand the turmoil that the ones close to fallen officers have to endure for the rest of their lives.
Our police officers, regardless of position, are men and women of principle, honor, and peace. They would so readily lay down their lives to protect ours. But they don’t deserve to die, and we should not stand for the increased deaths in their ranks. Because every fallen police officer means that we have one less individual keeping up the fight to keep our communities, our cities and towns safe.
You’re probably thinking, “Well, what can I do?” To answer that, I refer you back to something I mentioned earlier: anyone can be a hero.
We all have a voice and an innate desire to have a society where children can thrive, people can go about their daily routine, and life can be lived without fear of crime. Through this voice and this desire, we can bring about meaningful change to protect our officers as they have protected us. I may not be a politician; I may not have any clear-cut solutions for fixing the problem. But to get to those solutions, to reach the ears of those politicians at the local and federal level, there needs to be hope. There needs to be passion and concern for this cause. There need to be heroes.
Because sometimes even heroes need saving.
