140. That’s how many police officers lost their lives in 2016. 140 fathers, brothers, mothers, sisters, sons, daughters, husbands and wives who will never return to their families. 140 families who will forever be changed by their loss. Across America, our only defense against the robbers, gunmen and criminals is our law enforcement. Police officers don’t choose what happens in the world, they simply defend us from it.
People these days are so quick to judge. We run to the media screaming “corrupt law enforcement” when in reality, it was the people who were doing something wrong. It’s not the system that’s corrupt, it’s the people. It’s the people who don’t slow down and move over when they see a cop that has pulled someone over on the side of the road. It’s the people who argue when an officer is asking them a simple yes or no question. It’s the people who complain about getting pulled over when they know they were doing something wrong in the first place. It’s the people who don’t stop to say a simple “thank you” to the people who put their lives on the line every single day to protect us.
Police officers are a special group of people. They were given a calling to serve and protect, it’s really not a choice. I don’t know a single officer who would be happy working a job where they sit behind a desk and file papers all day long. Police officers are the thin blue line between chaos and calm. Personally, I depend on police officers. I know that if any danger were to present itself to me, police officers will be there as soon as they possibly could to protect me.
Out of the 140 police officers that were killed in 2016, we heard about maybe 20 of them through the national media. 63 of those officers died by gunfire, protecting people and in some cases taking the bullet instead of letting a civilian die. 63 officers took a bullet to protect the people. The amount of courage it takes to jump in front of a bullet to protect someone else astounds me. I would never be able to do it, but that is because I’m not that brave. I don’t have the selflessness it would take to sacrifice my life for someone I didn’t even know. I can say that I have the utmost respect for those few in blue who do have that bravery and selflessness.
Police officers are not invincible. They live and they die just like we do. They have families and friends and they never know which day is going to be their last. Let’s stop hating on them and start giving police officers the respect they deserve. Every day, they put on their vest and pin on their badges, they could be hugging their children or saying goodbye to their spouses for the last time. Police officers are our everyday heroes, and to all LEO- Thank you for everything you do. I see you. You are not invisible
