A Night Out: Strengthening our community

It is refreshing to see young children and their parents interacting with law enforcement in a positive setting.

Social media today is filled with videos and articles depicting the opposite.

That is why events like Tuesday's National Night Out are so important to communities such as ours. While the event only comes about once a year, it brings members of law enforcement together with the people of the community in which they serve.

 We know that the vast majority of the men and women of law enforcement are good, hard-working and dedicated people. And who knows? Some of those young children who spent Tuesday evening high-fiving the officers they met may one day decide to join the ranks of the thin blue line. Unfortunately though, the law of averages tells us that some will also one day find themselves on the wrong side of the law, either by choice or by circumstance.

That is where the community needs to enter into the equation. Too many of our youth today are labeled as lazy, morally bereft, even thugs.

National Night Out not only gives community members a chance to see police officers for who they are ---- real people who do a difficult job at great personal sacrifice to themselves and to their families ----  it also reminds those officers and we in the community that our children need us each to be role models.

The officers cannot do it all by themselves. They need us, the parents, teachers, county and city officials and the taxpayers ---- those who in lighter times used to consider themselves neighbors rather than strangers ---- to interact with one another and with the police, specifically in the presence of our kids, with respect and with dignity. That is what defines a community.

And with that in mind, we will try to remember to treat our law enforcement officers, as well as the children in our community, year-round the same way we do each August when National Night Out rolls around.

We hope you will, too. 

Published in Editorials on August 2, 2017 9:49 PM