Let’s pray for people behind the badge

Currently police officers are being identified by many as “bad guys,” so it’s time to take a look at just what they are expected to do to keep us all safe!

He or she must stay in top physical condition, be able to recite the Miranda warnings in their sleep; detain, investigate, search and arrest a gang member on the street in less time than it takes five learned judges to debate the legality of the stop.

Officers have to deal with crime scenes, coax a confession from a child abuser, comfort a murder victim’s family and show the media that law enforcement isn’t insensitive to the rights of criminal suspects!

Officers may sit in a squad car for hours at night on a stakeout, collect a homicide canvass for witnesses then testify in court the next day.

Placing a 250-pound drunk in a patrol car without incident, enter a dwelling a health inspector wouldn’t touch, determine the bulge in the pocket of a suspect, assist a bleeding victim saying, “You’ll be all right,” when they know differently.

Law enforcement officers make mistakes, but do the rest of us. We need to pray for our officers.

Louis Stepanek

Cedar Rapids