Don’t let the title of this article confuse you. I believe all lives matter. But the shooting in Dallas struck a much more personal note with me that I feel incredibly passionate about. Being the daughter of a retired police officer and the cousin of a current police officer, blue lives matter to me very much.

While watching the live news on Thursday night, I was so angry. I still am angry, but the anger has turned into sadness more than anything else. I’m sad that officers put their lives on the line every day and are so unappreciated. I’m sad because they protect people every day that openly proclaim their hate for them. I’m sad because these officers can’t even do their jobs without being scrutinized and judged over every move they make.

What this country needs is more respect. We need to respect the police officers that go to work every day and don’t know if they are going to get to come home. If a police officer says, “Stop, put your hands up," the correct response would be to stop and put your hands up. But somehow this has become lost, and people think they are entitled to do whatever they want and they don’t have to follow orders if they don’t like them. People walk around with a chip on their shoulders like somehow police don’t have any power anymore because of what social media has done to their reputation. They have become the enemies rather than the protectors and enforcers that they are.

I can promise you, people don’t become police officers because they want to ruin other people’s lives. It wouldn’t be worth it. They have long hours, low pay, crazy schedules and a constant target on their backs. Nobody in their right mind would be a police officer, especially at this time in the world where everyone is watching and waiting to point their fingers. They do it because they want to make a change in this messed up world. They want to protect their community and make a difference to the people around them. There are thousands of police officers in the United States, yet somehow all of their reputations have been based off the few that have done something that people don’t like. Notice how I’m not saying they have done something wrong — because I don’t think they have. I wasn’t in their situation and none of us know exactly what happened or what we would have done if we had been in their shoes. I wouldn’t want to be in their shoes. I wouldn’t want to have made a decision like that, but we all know people love to act like they know everything and try to use all of these cases to justify and excuse their hate.

Police officers have sworn to protect their communities and the people in them. They have to make life-threatening decisions every day that maybe don’t just impact their own lives, but the lives of their partners and civilians around them. I can’t imagine having to make these decisions ever, but especially not when you can’t just think about the current situation. You have to consider how the media will twist anything you do and make you look like the bad guy. Yes, they are human, and yes, some make mistakes, but that doesn’t make every police officer bad and it sure doesn’t give someone the right to shoot up innocent police officers as "revenge."

The fact that we live in a country that allows people to express their sorrow and anger publicly without any interference from the government is a privilege. On Thursday in Dallas, there was a protest for the #blacklivesmatter movement. Police were quietly standing by to make sure nobody got hurt and nothing got out of hand. But that was not enough. The shooter, Micah Johnson, wore body armor and was heavily armed. He hid and ambushed police officers from a parking garage. He claimed he wanted to "kill white people, especially white officers," and was a member of the New Black Panther Party. He was out for revenge for the recent shootings of black men by police officers, claiming they were based on corruption and racism. Please tell me how ambushing innocent police officers that had nothing to do with the previous shootings in Louisiana and Minnesota made up for anything that happened. Twelve people were injured and five police officers died in the line of duty.

Right now, it is a dangerous time to be a police officer, and I respect every single person that wakes up every morning, puts on their uniform, and continues to serve this country even though everyone seems to be against them. I thank each and every one of you for answering the call and protecting the people, even those who proclaim such hatred for you. Even when it seems like the world may be against you, always remember that blue lives do matter.