It’s my opinion that the police do not get enough thanks for their service to the community. Police officers play an important role in our society, one which can not be replaced. Quite frankly, in a perfect world, there would be no need for the police. People would have the common courtesy to respect their peers; to not violate the rights of others. However, that is just not the world we live in. While many people do treat others with the respect they deserve – and refrain from employing violence as a measure of recourse – there will always be a large portion of society who have no problem slighting others in the most egregious ways.

I have heard people say things like, “if every one had a gun then there would be no need for the police.” That is just ludicrous. So now every potential sex offender, thief and sociopath has a Glock and there is no organized oversight to keep them in check? Are you kidding? If everyone simply had a gun and had free reign to take matters into their own hands, things would be awful. Some old lady rear-ends another individual, and said old lady has no car insurance and refuses to pay for the damage, how can the person who was rear-ended make her pay? What can that individual do? Shoot her?

I mean, come on.

Without law enforcement agencies there would be chaos. Although cops are by no means infallible and the legal system is far from perfect, together they serve as a measure against the demons in all of us and more effectively than anything else we have come up with; they help to balance out the scales of human self-interest. Police are bound by checks and balances. In theory, by swearing to protect in serve, those who join the force also subject themselves to a more stringent measure of review.

While some people seem to resent the authority law enforcement agents hold over them, I have noticed in my personal – albeit limited – experience that many of those same individuals are the sort of people whose actions give cause for extra scrutiny. Without the measures of law and order people would devolve and act upon their base compulsions. Many of those compulsions are actions which other people would not enjoy, with consequences paid by those other people. Without anything to hold individuals accountable for their actions people would heedlessly wrong others. For those who accept the guidelines our society has laid down for us to follow, the police provide little more then background noise, until, of course, they need to be called to sort out a situation.

Some accuse the authorities of misusing their powers and causing irritation for people who have done nothing wrong. While these instances are rare, they are an unfortunate trade-off. Not everyone is a good person and that also goes for those with power. There will always be someone who ruins it for everyone else, and just because there are a few problems with the system does not mean it should be abandoned. And while accountability can stem from being in the public eye, there are those who waste their breath with counterproductive criticisms. If you have a solution to a problem – a realistic solution to a problem – then I am all ears. Otherwise save it.

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...@evesunkevin