We Must Defend the Police

A police officer has the often-thankless job of seeing to it that we all abide by the law. From armed robbery to running a stop sign, it’s all against the law. This job is not high paying, requires long hours, is personally challenging, and very frustrating. However, unlike must jobs, it is a calling. Most police officers love their job and bend over backwards to do it right, even under the worst circumstances. Chief Finley and Sheriff Cunningham and their officers do an outstanding job here in Montgomery county, and we cannot thank them enough.

It is unfortunate that some in law enforcement take their authority too far. Also unfortunate is the fact that these few incidents receive 95% of the publicity, while extreme acts of heroism by the police go unnoticed.

A recent Poll by the respected Pew Research Center showed that 73 percent of the American people opposed cutting spending on the police. 32 Percent actually favored spending more on policing. Democrat or Republican, Black or White, we support the Police. It is a small number of radicals, the squeaky wheels, who shout defund the police and who get all the attention.

It is just plain wrong to define the thousands of police officers in this country by one or two bad actors. The policeman that killed George Flynn must be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. We cannot, however, paint all our brave men and women in law enforcement as thugs and criminals, the vast majority are out there every day protecting our property and saving thousands of lives.

The new narrative is to believe the accused against the police. In New York City, a man who viciously assaulted 3 police officers in uniform with a mop handle was released without bail. Also in New York City, the city council has voted to cut $1 billion from the NYPD’s budget, despite the fact that weekly shooting incidents in mid-June increased by 358 percent over the same period in 2019. Stripping police of operating money will create larger and more dangerous problems. We must support the rule of law, or our country will disintegrate into chaos.

I salute the Mayor of San Diego, Kevin Faulconer, and the San Diego City Council. In June, they increased the funding for their police department by 27 million dollars "Now more than ever, we need well-trained officers who understand our communities, so we will continue to invest in hiring and training officers who come from our neighborhoods and look like our diverse city,” Mayor Faulconer said.

The Silent Majority must remain silent no more. They must speak up for the police. They must tell their elected officials that defunding the police is complete lunacy. They must tell the media and every elected official in the country that sane Americans support the police and the rule of law. They must also let the police know “We’ve got your back”.

To quote Ronald Regan “We must reject the idea that every time a law's broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions.”

When you get a chance and see a police officer, please do as I do and give them a thumbs up and a big “Thank You”. The local police are our country’s backbone and guarantor of our civil society. Police lives matter.