Preparing For Peace

Around the United States tonight, LEOs are getting ready for work. They are leaving their families at the start of their shifts prepared to keep the peace and protect the strangers they serve, with every hope and intention of returning home safely at the end of their shifts. Those are their obligations, and that is what they signed on to do when they took their oaths.

However, tonight is different. In Ferguson, Missouri and all around the United States, LEOs face uncertainty. As we all anticipate the St. Louis County grand jury decision about the fate of Officer Darren Wilson, for the LEOs on duty this is more than just a news story. LEOs and their families are facing threats. Protests, peaceful and otherwise, are plannned around the United States irrespective of the grand jury’s decision. As always, the peceful protests are respected and require a minimal amount of planning. However, as history teaches us, the peaceful protests will likely be infected by those who wish to exploit the situation to cause property damage and engage in violent acts.

During a week when people throughout the United States are preparing for Thanksgiving and traveling to see relatives, most LEOs are facing cancelled vacations, suspended leave requests, and shifts filled with unprecedented risks of violence and danger. However, despite the increased risks, the stress and strain on their families, and the realization that they actions will be under the microscope of the international media, they will arrive for each shift ready to perform their sworn duties.

As we all pray for peace, remember those who wear the badges and show up to work each day ready to put their lives on the line for total strangers. This week may bring danger for LEOs, but for most of America, it will be business as usual with family, feasts, and football. Take some time over your turkey to thank God for the execptional people who choose to stand on the center of the thin blue line and enforce the rule of law. Without them, our lives would be drastically different as freedom starts with security and without our nation’s LEOs, we would have neither. Stay safe.