Editor, Gazette-Journal:
“Gloucester man dies following confrontation with deputies,” March 30 Gazette-Journal.
If 30 years as a police officer in New Jersey taught me anything, it was an enlightened sense of what it is to be human: police and the public. The thought rightfully led me to understand there is no difference. We are all the same humanity.
Daily, we are surrounded and often held hostage by all manner of media attention to the human condition. It is to be admired, pitied and feared. Yet police go about their duties with a manner most don’t grasp. That is not to say family, friends and neighbors can’t sympathize with and applaud their role and the sacrifices they make in keeping the peace.
Beyond that, there is another more onerous function. The taking of a life. Police graciously accept the ballistic vest, the tools they carry and their oath to uphold the laws of our great nation. They also are ready to sacrifice themselves for others, both the innocent and those who choose ...