I would like to thank our veterans and our current members of the military for their service. Having a son in the Army, I am proud of him and all the members of the armed services. We all can feel safe knowing we have our military looking out for us.
But I feel that one segment of our society that does not get the thanks and respect it deserves is our police force and correctional officers. Just like our military, they put their lives on the line on a daily basis. Hundreds are killed yearly answering calls for our help. The stress on these men and women is intense.
Between 2016-22, 1,287 law enforcement and correctional officers committed suicide. Sadly, there’s no significant day of recognition to thank our current officers or the ones who passed. No Memorial Day. Some towns may have a small ceremonies to honor their hometown heroes who may have tragically been killed.
We need to start giving these men and women the respect they deserve. I know there have been some bad apples who have ruined the image of our police officers, but that is a small portion. I was in a store once, and a man with a small child in his arms was in line with a policeman in front of them. The man said to the little girl, “If you’re not good, this man will come and get you.” I just shook my head. I wanted him to say, “If you see this man, and you need help, you can always run to him.”
We need to teach our children to respect police officers from an early age. Maybe someone in our government can pick a day to recognize these other individuals in uniform!
Stan Sipple
Felton
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
