Yes, I understand you are all upset, but killing police isn’t going to change anything. Fighting fire with fire just creates a bigger fire. I strongly believe that all lives matter. Killing police officers isn’t going to do anything. I want everyone to realize that just because some of the police are corrupt does not make them all corrupt. Don’t you see those posts about the Muslims? Not all Muslims are terrorists just because a group of people decide to take the religion to the extreme.

The effects of killing police officers are not only short term; for you are not just ending a life, you are ripping that person from the lives around them. The police don’t just live alone, they are moms and dads, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, and friends. You change the lives of their families just by taking a single person’s life. How can you expect to have any kind of protection when you are killing police? You aren’t going to get rid of the corrupt police by killing the ones who aren’t corrupt because “good” police outnumber corrupt police.

Police are all around and not always known to be police – and I don’t blame those who want to remain undiscovered choose to live like that. I fear for the lives of friends and neighbors who are in the police force – imagine how their families must feel sending their loved ones into work every day. Just as some people fear leaving their houses in dangerous neighborhoods, or victims of bullying fear going to school each day, families of those in the police force fear sending their husbands, wives, siblings, and parents into work each day.

Families are scared. “Every single day, my mother puts on her badge and heads out to work. She says goodbye to my sisters and I and never forgets to tell us that she loves us, because in her profession she isn’t guaranteed to come home the same day safe and alive,” says Ceora Grafton in an article she wrote. She also says that she believes that people in this world just take for granted all of the hard work that goes into protecting and serving any community in this country. Grafton also says “Take a moment to imagine how terrifying it must be to leave for work every day not sure if you will come back home later. How scary it must be to be in a situation where your life's in danger and you have to aim your weapon at another human being.” Try and put yourself in their shoes, the police officers – each morning could be the last time they see their families. They may not return home the same as they had been before they left and they may not return at all.

A comment by an anonymous poster on a debate website says, “People have no idea what we have to deal with until they actually are in the moment.”

A lot of other posters on the same thread mention how the news only broadcasts the bad stuff – you never see anything about the police who go out and help our community. Another poster says, “One ‘bad’ cop is too many but there are far more good ones who go to work every day and conduct themselves professionally.” Some police even go above the call of duty and benefit our community in many different ways.

The news covers stories all the time about what bad things this cop has done and what ones this one is doing – how often do you see a story about the good deeds that police perform on a day to day basis. CNN posts stories of Police going beyond the call of duty and I think they are amazing. In Minnesota, State Trooper Glen Bihler bought dinner for a homeless man that had been found lying on the side of a highway. It was winter and the temperature was dropping and Bihler arranged for the man to stay the night in the lobby of the sheriff’s department because there wasn’t any room in a shelter. They also share another story from San Francisco, a woman and her autistic son had been turned away from several homeless shelters and a group of police officers pooled together money for a hotel room and groceries for the two. William Terrill says that good deeds enacted by the police are more often than not overshadowed by the negative stories in the media of police who abuse their power.

I’m sure everyone has heard of the Dallas shootings by now, and although I am aware this is old news, I have found an incredible story from the New York Post about a police officer died to protect the lives of a mother and sons. “Shetamia Taylor…who is black, said several whit cops threw themselves between her and the assassin.” She also expressed how thankful she was that these police officers protected her and her sons.

The police who were shot at in Dallas had been monitoring the Black Lives Matter protestors and as soon as shots rang out, they ran in to protect and shield the demonstrators from the gunman. “Dallas police reminded us of the courage and selflessness displayed by the vast majority of America’s men and women in uniform,” an article by the National Review states. They also say that “the Dallas Police Department has been a model for police reform” as “there are bad cops, whose recklessness – or worse – should be subject to more vigorous discipline or, if necessary, prosecution.”

In the end, we cannot condemn all police for being corrupt and bad just because of a few bad eggs. There are genuinely good police officers in today’s society, although the media does not mention this majority of law enforcement. Going around and killing those in the line of duty isn’t going to solve any of the issues in the community. Fighting fire with fire does not have a positive result.

Sincerely,

A Concerned Citizen