Recently, a Arizona State trooper was ambushed while responding to a roll over crash. The news story states that, “As the trooper exited his vehicle and began to lay out flares, it appears at this point that he was ambushed by the suspect.”Reports said. "In the initial confrontation, the suspect shoots the trooper in the shoulder [and] right chest area at least one time, possibly twice, disabling the use of the trooper's right hand and right arm." The gunman then attacked the trooper with his hands, bashing his head into the pavement.”

For those of you who don’t know how the story ends you may as well assume that the officer was found dead at the scene of the crime. However, that was not the case. A motorist who saw the altercation unfold exited his vehicle and shot the suspect dead. A second motorist got on the officer’s radio and called for help, saving the officers life.

The recent altercations between police and civilians have left many with a bad taste in their mouth about the ability of law enforcement to serve their community. Further hate has spread through the media and whistle blowers, some of which, encouraged the murder of police officers. This toxic stigma regarding the police has had a huge impact on their safety. In 2016 we see that an estimated 64 offices were killed, making it the most on duty deaths in almost 5 years. These random acts of terror against law enforcement have become the norm. When I read this news story I saw a glimmer of how civilians and law enforcement should interact. Officers are there when we need them most, let us be there when they need us. After all, we want our neighborhoods cleaned up, out cities made safer, and a healthy environment to raise our families in. Yet achieving these goals are not only the responsibilities of officers. They are simply the enforcers. We are the watch dogs that need to work together to reach a common goal of fighting the evil found throughout America. As one of my teacher’s taught about the importance of standing against corruption, she said, “Evil flourishes when good men do nothing.”