On the Side| Brad Hicks

It shouldn’t be lost on us that while an estimated 1,000 or more people turned out to support law enforcement here last Tuesday, just a few days later and one state to the south a rookie patrol officer was gunned down while making a vehicle stop.

For all of the people who say they are backing the blue, there are a few kooks. And while the kooks are greatly outnumbered, it only takes one to change everyone’s perspective on what it means to serve.

That’s why events such as Red Oak’s celebration of National Night Out are so important. Members of a community need to have good relationships with their local police, sheriff, and patrol. It’s not, however, a one-way street. Law enforcement across the country is starting to wake up to the idea that good public relations goes a long way in creating positive and trusting exchanges. Quite frankly, the days are long gone of people just assuming a police officer has their best interest at heart because – just as with the population at-large – there are a few bad apples in the law enforcement barrel, too.

But those who meet and talk with officers in disarming situations – a social gathering downtown over a root beer float, or something such as that – get the opportunity to realize the folks wearing that uniform are real people, too. With that, citizens have to realize that these people have undertaken a profession that is fraught with danger.

For instance, when you go out on a winter day and risk driving in bad weather, you made a choice. The officer who comes to help you didn’t really have a choice to not drive in the horrendous conditions. He or she came to bail you out of the trouble you brought upon yourself.

When your vehicle is passed by another that’s going too fast, or didn’t get over far enough, or cut you off, or ran a stop sign, you don’t have any idea what’s going on with that driver. Distracted? Drunk? Texting? Drugged? Leaving a crime scene? And for you, barring a crash, the incident is over. For law enforcement, that encounter is just the start.

I remember a sheriff saying he was only truly frightened once. He pulled over a vehicle in the middle of the night, and when he got to the side of the vehicle, the driver’s door popped open a few inches and the barrel of a long gun stuck in his midsection. He retreated to a safe place, and the vehicle – stolen – was later found ditched. He said he was disheartened often, particularly dealing with traffic fatalities, including children. “But that’s why we’re here, he said of both encounters. To protect and serve others.”

Thank goodness.

Contact Brad Hicks at publisher@redoakexpress.com.