It is hard to deny that there is a lot that is wrong with policing in America today. Our system of justice does not serve racial minorities and other outliers of society. A lot needs to be fixed and righted…and I don't pretend to know where we should even start. But we certainly need to try. We owe it to those individuals who have been treated poorly, falsely imprisoned, or even killed at the hands of officers who have misused their power, to start this process of change.
But there is another story of policing in America. It is one that is much quieter, and not likely to make the front pages. It is a story of men and women, committed to their careers, to their families, to their country. They face each work day, having no inclination what it will bring, with courage and dependability and grace. They work in the peripheries and darkest corners to keep us safe. And they mostly succeed.
One of these police officers is my brother who works for the Portland Police Department, East Precinct. I am extremely proud of him and the man he has become.
1 comment:
Your brother is an amazing man. The job he does is hard and each day brings challenges to be dealt with that can be rewarding but also can end badly. I am grateful to your brother and others like him who find themselves in harms way as they preserve and protect our freedom. Thank you!!
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