Hug a police officer

If I step outside right now, I'll hear the sound of a helicopter overhead. The main road right outside our apartment complex is completely shut down, because this morning, about half a mile from where we live, a man wanted for rape charges shot a Charlotte police officer in the head while he and several other officers were attempting to arrest him. Fortunately, it appears that the officer, Kayvan Hazrati, who is supposed to be getting married in two weeks, will survive. Doctors don't know, though, how much long-term damage he'll suffer.

We, as a society, are not very nice to police officers. We don't like them because they write us traffic tickets, because they make us follow the rules. We call them names, based solely on their profession, despite the fact that it is their job to keep us safe. When I was a reporter in South Carolina, we had a similar situation in our coverage area. A deputy went to a house to talk to the owners in an attempt to help mediate a dispute between the family and the Department of Transportation over a road-widening project the owners felt was encroaching on their property (the state had actually purchased the property needed for widening before the current owner even purchased their property). The deputy was shot through the closed front door with a high-powered rifle. The owner and his adult son then pulled the deputy's body inside house. Another officer who arrived shortly after to check on the deputy was shot in the yard before even reaching the house, sparking a 14-hour standoff between the father, son and half of the state's law enforcement officers.

At the paper, we had a specific officer with the Highway Patrol who was our designated media contact. I cannot think of a nicer, better man, and every time I talked to him, he always made me smile. He was one of the first officers to arrive on the scene after the second officer was shot. With just one other officer providing cover fire, he pulled the second officer's body from the yard. All of this happened on a day that I was off work. The next day, after using officers used robotic assistance late the night before to end the standoff, I was responsible for covering the arraignment of the son and his mother (who staged a mini-standoff at the son's apartment). During the arraignment, the son launched into a prolonged anti-government tyrade (to read the article, click here) and had no apparent remorse for the two lives they had taken. It made me queasy to hear him, and I didn't know at the time of my friend at the Highway Patrol's involvement--if I did, I don't know how I would have handled it.

Every day there are officers just like my friend who put their lives on the line, and rarely do we say thank you. Usually it's quite the opposite. Charlotte's Mayor, Pat McCroy, encouraged Charlotte residents to hug a police officer today. If you're not the hugging type, this is what I would suggest--the next time you stop an officer to ask for directions somewhere, let him (or her) know you appreciate what he does. The next time an officer pulls you over for driving too fast, thank him for the job he does--even if you get a ticket. Pretty much, any time you have contact with law enforcement officers, thank them--they deserve it.