“Police officers deserve so much more respect than they get.” Those were the words that echoed through a church, on May 27, as Spencer Tarentino delivered an emotional eulogy for his father. As a high school senior, standing just a week before his graduation, between his two brothers, this young man spoke in front of sea of blue. His father had been violently murdered days earlier, just doing his job.
That job was the job of a police officer. On a routine car stop, Officer Ron Tarentino approached a vehicle. The car belonged to a criminal with a violent past and a lengthy criminal history, including assault of a police officer and multiple resisting arrest charges. The suspect opened fire on Officer Tarentino and fled the scene. In the early hours of May 22, Officer Ron Tarentino took his last breath.
Since January, the country has added 38 officers to the Line of Duty deaths list. Over the last years, an anti-police ideology has risen and dug its roots, sometimes displaying itself in a practical and non-violent way, but seemingly a majority of the time it is demonstrated through violence against officers. More and more, people don’t trust the police and act out towards them. They speak out against police, bashing them and calling for their deaths.
Just last year, two officers in New York were executed in their squad car, purely for the fact that they wore the badge. Police are being seen as the enemy and irrationally attacked. Criminals act out with reckless abandon, while the officers' hands are tied. We live in a world where people are more concerned about the wellbeing of criminals than they are about the safety of officers. In the wake of the deaths of two Massachusetts police officers, literally on the day of one officers wake, the Massachusetts senate voted down funds that would be allocated to police departments for the purchase of bullet proof vests.
Officers are vilified by the public without anyone knowing the full story. Keyboard warriors and computer lawyers lash out based on 10-second clips on Facebook. Comments, on posts about the deaths of officers, saying “we're better off with them dead, they deserved what they got” get hundreds of likes; while those saying “Rest in Peace” get bashed. Gone are the days when the general public had respect for police officers.
Police officers puts their lives on the line every time they put on their uniform. Years ago, an officer was recorded buying a little boy a cookie at McDonalds. As Officer Jeremy Henwood sat at a red light, moments after leaving the McDonalds, he was shot just because he was an officer. This is the reality officers face everyday. People hate them. People want them dead. But the officers still fight for their town, city, or states protection. They will still put on the uniform everyday. Regardless of the support they do or do not receive, police officers will always do their job.
So I will leave you with the words of slain Officer Tarentinos son, Spencer, “Police officers deserve so much more respect than they get. You guys do one of the hardest jobs in the world. People are so disrespectful. And I hope my dad did not go in vain."
Police Officer Thomas W. Cottrell, Jr.
Police Officer Douglas Scott Barney, II.
Correctional Officer Adam Conrad
Special Agent Scott McGuire
Sergeant Jason Goodding
Deputy Sheriff Derek Geer
Deputy Sheriff Scott Ballantyne
Senior Deputy Mark Logsdon
Senior Deputy Patrick Dailey
Major Gregory E. Barney
Police Officer Jason Moszer
Special Agent Lee Tartt
Corporal Nate Carrigan
Officer Ashley Marie Guindon
Deputy Sheriff Travis Russell
Police Officer David Stefan Hofer
Police Officer Scot Fitzgerald
Trooper Sean E. Cullen
Deputy Sheriff John Robert Kotfila, Jr.
Officer Nathan Taylor
Police Officer I Jacai D. Colson
Patrolman David Ortiz
First Sergeant Joseph G. Portaro
Trooper Thomas Clardy
Police Officer III Allen Lee Jacobs
Deputy Sheriff Carl A. Koontz
Police Officer Susan Louise Farrell
Police Officer Carlos Puente-Morales
Trooper Jeffrey Nichols
Trooper Chad Phillip Dermyer
Police Officer Steven Michael Smith
Border Patrol Agent Jose Daniel Barraza
Sergeant Jorge Ramos
Investigator Anthony "TJ" Freeman
Detective Brad D. Lancaster
Police Officer David Van Glasser
Police Officer Sean R. Johnson
Police Officer Ronald Tarentino, Jr.
