EDITORIAL: Back the Blue a needed sign of support

Law enforcement has been the target of increased scrutiny nationally, but one thing hasn’t changed — it’s still a dangerous profession, one that is necessary and often calls for split-second decisions that, as we have seen, can have repercussions on the regional and national level.

The fact is, if everyone followed the Golden Rule, if we all treated everyone with respect, love and kindness, we wouldn’t need law enforcement officers. But we don’t, not here in America and not anywhere else, for that matter. There are those among us who want possessions, money and power enough to take them, whether through deception, coercion or force.

When that happens, someone has to step in. That job, on the local level, falls to those who serve in police departments and sheriff’s offices.

The shield carried by a law enforcement officer is not a magical talisman that automatically bestows wisdom, knowledge and character, and there are cases in which those who have been entrusted to enforce our laws have, in fact, violated them. But the vast majority of law enforcement officials are on the job to keep their communities safe, both for their own families and for the families of those they don’t know.

A police officer walks out his or her front door to go to a job at which anything can happen, one in which unexpected violence or death can appear in an instant. They see and deal with their fellow citizens in ways most of us don’t. Some of the people they deal with are at their worst, others may be at their most vulnerable. The officer knows that whatever decision is made can have effects that stay with victim and perpetrator alike — along with their families — for years.

And the lucky officer is able to return home at the end of the shift, put the experiences out of mind as best he or she can, and then do it again the next day.

It’s a tremendous responsibility.

But communities, states and the nation also have a tremendous responsibility. We have a responsibility ensure that those who carry these shields, those who stand between us and those who would do us harm, have the training and tools they need to do the job, and to do it the right way. And they should earn enough pay to make a decent living for their families.

No system of hiring is foolproof. There are those who violate their oaths as law enforcement officers, and they should be dealt with like any lawbreaker.

We should remember, however, that the vast majority of law enforcement officials are on the job for the right reasons. That’s something that Albany businessman Tom Gieryic and others have been trying to remind us in recent weeks with a local Back the Blue initiative. The campaign is a visible show of support to law enforcement, a visible thanks for doing an often thankless job.

We appreciate the work these men and women do for our community, day and night, seven days a week. It’s a dangerous, often lonely job, and we as a community should support those who do this important work.