Blue Justice

In my part of the world, the police are a big issue now. An officer was tragically sent to the wrong address and there shot a dog he felt was threatening him. Dog lovers reacted instinctively and sided with the owner exclusively. More information has come out and the owner is looking more suspicious - the dog has even had past occurrences of biting, but many people are still attacking the officer and have brought up other cases from other places and times, as if there is a dog killing conspiracy among law enforcement around the country.
I know that police sometimes do things wrong, even commit crimes themselves. We unfortunately have to hire flawed human beings to protect us. And it is true that a job like this attracts power hungry, even violent people and sometimes they slip through the process and get hired. But I have known a few cops in my lifetime and many of them are sensible, well-intentioned people.
My generation has a history of being anti-police. In our youth, some called them pigs and occasionally I still hear that. And police misbehavior has caused others to write off the entire profession. This is wrong. When officers are wrong, they must be corrected, even going to jail like any other criminal if they break the law themselves. But the fact remains: We need police. Most of them, even the ones who do wrong, have a very hard job, a job the rest of us would have a hard time doing, probably even couldn't do. Every time they go to work they know they may not come home that night. Even something as simple as a traffic stop could turn deadly. And like any other group, most of them are good and shouldn't be lumped with the miscreants.
It's time for us all to grow up and oppose the wrong while standing by the right. And let them know.