My heart is full of sadness today as I read article after article about the atrocity that occurred in Dallas on Thursday. I read the posts from people saying how sorry they are that this happened and that their hearts are with these officers in this terrible time. I watched the videos of those who were at the protest and witnessed these officers gunned down in cold blood. All I can say is that I am sorry, but I know this is not enough to heal the pain that will take years to wash away if it ever really does.

We seem to forget the sacrifices our officers make for our communities every single day. They leave their homes, their families, and their safety behind as they button up their uniforms, not knowing if they will be home for dinner that night. We get angry with them for giving us traffic citations or intervening in a conflict when they are called. We curse their names when an officer acts out of line and condemn all officers for the actions of one. The media and the internet screams every time a person is killed by an officer and then we demand justice for that person. Even if we know the officer was right and doing his or her job, we still want their blood.

The stories of the good officers who stopped a drunk driver from continuing on their path and possibly killing your family are lost in the sea of hatred for other officers. Our memories of these brave men and women playing basketball with kids or buying them ice cream are quickly erased at the slightest idea that one officer may have done something wrong. We condemn them and claim that officers are racist and are out to get us. Then we want “justice” and we get what we have in Dallas. Five officers lost their lives and seven more were injured by a man seeking this so called justice.

I already see the debates happening on social media over why this happened. Some blame guns and others blame the Black Lives Matter movement and some even go as far to blame the officers themselves for this tragedy. This utterly and totally sickens me to my core. If you want to blame something, blame the media or the man or hell blame those that fuel this hatred of police. I read articles every day about police brutality and how we must fight back against them. While some officers may be rotten to the core, the overwhelming majority of them are wonderful people who just want to make the world a better place.

They protect us when we have no one else to help. They see us on our absolute worst days of our lives. Each and every day, they witness the worst humanity has to offer and yet they still put the badge on. They wear it proudly and carry the weight of the world on their shoulders. By walking through hell and fire just to pull us out on these bad days, they make our lives better. We have no right to condemn them. Remember they are just human.

So to all the officers out there who fight every day to make sure I am safe on my way to work or wherever I am going, I thank you. You are the true embodiment of what it means to be an American. You sacrifice everything you have just to protect everything I have and for that, I could never repay you. For those of you out there who are condemning the police and wanting them to pay the price for what has happening, remember when it is three in the morning and someone is breaking into your house that the police will always show up to protect you. That is their job and no matter what you say about them, they will always come to your aid when you need it.