Policing Properly

MANY YEARS AGO my roommate's girlfriend, while driving late at night on a busy but dark street, struck a pedestrian, killed her, and left the scene, without, according to her, ever really knowing for sure what had happened. suspicious though this sounds, I tended to believe her. She was sentenced to one year in the county jail. When I visited her, through the thick glass pane I was satisfied of her sincere remorse.  Not long thereafter I spoke to the sheriff at a county political party (Democrat) gathering, mentioned that I had visited the lady, and was satisfied that she had learned  much, and was truly remorseful, ready to get on with a productive life. Not long thereafter her sentence was reduced, and she was released. i confess I felt a certain sense of satisfaction, especially towards the sheriff, and pleasure at my apparent role in the matter. The sheriff, already a friend and political comrade of mine, immediately became my favorite law enforcement officer.Until now. Now I have a new hero cop; the sheriff in Flint, Michigan. You probably saw him on national television. he stood with a group of protesters, and told them, as he stripped off his body armor, that he was removing his weapon, helmet, and armor, and becoming one of them. he told them in a loud voice that he was there to help and protect them, not to stifle or oppose them, and that he would do anything in his power to be a friend, and fellow citizen, a concerned citizen, for he respected their purpose. You'll recall the crowd started chanting 'walk with us!", and he said in return" "OK, let's walk". and they did, and the protest proceeded peacefully. This was a perfect blueprint of what a law enforcement office, policeman, sheriff, national guard, whatever, should be, and how he should behave. In our haste and urgent national need to reform our law enforcement in America, let us hope that this kind and brave gentleman becomes the role model we so badly need, and that we can, at long last, h ave peace and contentment in our streets and communities, with a bond of trust and love between us the people and our law enforcement officers, who, after all, are supposed to be our heroes, not our enemies.