Show thanks to our local officers by remembering them with a note during Police Appreciation Week (May 9-15)

To the Editor:

From the moment little clumps of amino acids were sparked into life, two things became essential for survival — security and sustenance— safety from harm, and food and shelter.

In the complex society of today, our needs are the same. Without security, businesses and life itself cannot thrive — the protected shared work of society provides the food and shelter we all need. Without security, we cannot walk the streets, have protection for personal property, or be able to trust the institutions and businesses that form the bedrock of our economy.

Some of the people who provide that order in an amazingly undiscriminating way are the police in our communities. With 48 police killed last year and 30 more already this year, and with over 2,000 injured in riots there has been a sad increase in officer suicides and many more leaving the service. Claims that locally controlled police are systemically racist are promoted by the media and some of the highest political officials in our country, resulting in antipathy toward the brave people who come to our aid when no one else can or will.

The rash of incidents where people resisting arrest get shot, add to the narrative. It is becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. While prosecuting police crime is essential in preserving the integrity of the profession, police feel they could lose their career, reputation, or liberty, by using the force judged necessary in a situation. Criminals can take advantage of this. Homicides and carjackings have swelled in many major cities. In their refusal to allow police to act against mob violence, Seattle, Portland, Minneapolis, NYC, Louisville, Philadelphia and so many other cities have seen blocks of destruction in major commercial areas.

While exploring ways to make encounters with police less confrontational, kindness and gratitude to police can make them less threatened. As psychologists and parents will attest, people behave best when they know they are loved.

Please show thanks and respect to our local officers by remembering them with a note during Police Appreciation Week (May 9-15). Perhaps that should be a part of reforming law enforcement methods— telling all the wonderful things police do for us. (That, of course, does not include those pesky traffic tickets. :-<)

Luann Byrne

Stanhope