Let's Talk About This

It was a rough week, with three officers tragically killed.  We started off with Trooper Steven Vincent, gunned down on the side of a Louisiana road, then we followed up with Officer Henry Nelson was killed while responding to a domestic incident.  Finally, we learned that Harris County deputy Darren Goforth was killed at while pumping gas into his car.

Three police officers killed in the space of a week, within 200 miles of each other.  The local law enforcement community is in a state of shock.  We're saddened and angered, and mourning.  Yet, we put on our boots every morning and go to work.

They used to say that a police officer could expect to work twenty years and not draw his service pistol  I don't know if that's the case.  I've been a cop for 34 years and I've never been in a gunfight.  But, I've buried brother  officers.  Several of them.  Two that worked directly for me, both murdered in their prime.I'm no stranger to being a pall-bearer for a brother officer.

There is generally no common thread that binds these tragedies.  Each of the above incidents are purely individual, with differing motives and participants.  It's just that they came so closely together that the human mind tries to assign a commonality to them.  If there is any commonality to these three incidents, it is that it happened to police officers in the same week.  A State Trooper, a City Policeman, and a County Deputy, all killed in the space of the week.  The only commonality is that we notice, we pray, and we mourn.  We try to comfort those left to deal with the aftermath, and we try to serve justice.

It's tough being a cop right now.  Our president hates us, really he does.  Since his first pronouncement in 2009 that the police acted stupidly, he has put us down at every opportunity.  He really doesn't like the police.  He didn't help in Ferguson, or Charleston, or Virginia and his silence is deafening as regards the three officers killed last week. But that's okay, we're comfortable in his contempt.  We hold him in much the same regard.

For myself and my brothers and sisters who wear the badge, we'll keep on serving.  Most of us serve simply because we like helping people.  I like being friendly, and courteous, and helping people who need help. I can't imagine not being a cop.  And, just as once I couldn't imagine not being a soldier, one day I'll put the badge in a shadow box and hang it on the wall.

But, in the meantime, I have one request.  If you feel a burning need to kill a cop, go get mental help.  Don't be a coward, like those three guys last week.  Man up, admit you have a problem, and get some help.  Because, frankly, we're a little edgy right now.