DALLAS, TX – It’s worth pausing at times and paying notice to something we all should know but probably don’t think about often enough, that policing is hard, dangerous work that makes our civil society possible.
Any number of stories on any given day in this country can remind us of that. The one that moved us to write today was last week’s shooting of Hill County Constable Kevin Cordell who was wounded trying to help Dallas police arrest two people on a felony warrant. The shooting, in Johnson County, near Alvarado, turned what would otherwise have been a routine day into a near-death experience for a law enforcement officer.
So far in Texas this year, three officers have been killed by gunfire. Another, Dallas Officer Mitchell Penton, was killed when he was struck by an alleged drunk driver.
Last year in the state, seven officers were killed by intentional gunfire and two by vehicular assault, according to the organization Officer Down Memorial Page.
Law enforcement officers engage in countless dangerous encounters every day. Almost all of their work goes without broader public notice. But each time they step into danger, they are holding the line against social breakdown.
None of this is to say that police should not be held to account when they violate the law, when they abuse their power or when they use unnecessary and excessive force. Police hold a special power in our society and so should be held to the highest possible standards of professional conduct. And concerns about over-policing in communities of color deserve to be heard everywhere in this country.
But in the name of balance, it’s important to recognize that the true narrative on policing is terribly incomplete if it fails to acknowledge the danger of the work we ask police to do and the reality that officers must be aware that, during any stop and on any patrol, their lives could be at risk.
That happened to Cordell last week. When the call came, he didn’t turn away. The suspects he was chasing were wanted for felonies. He had to understand they could be dangerous. Still, he pursued. The bullets that came his way were bullets that won’t be fired at civilians because he shouldered that risk and literally put his own life second to the lives of all of us he serves.
It’s worth thinking about that today and every time we hear of a law enforcement officer being hurt or killed in the line of duty. It is worthy of our honor and respect because it is truly heroic.
