Last week was National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day (L.E.A.D.), a day marked for people to show support of and thank those who have chosen to put their lives on the line every day for their communities.

 

It’s not a well-known day, in fact, many people have never even heard of it. But in light of the negative view many people have of law enforcement, it’s a day long overdue.

 

The day was initiated after an event in 2014 where a police officer was involved in a shooting that sparked violence and negativity towards law enforcement. It was first observed in 2015 “in light of recent negativity directed toward law enforcement nationally.”

 

Many people only think of police officers as the face that appears in their driver’s side window asking for license and registration after they’ve gotten pulled over, and they’re usually not too inclined to be thinking appreciative thoughts towards law enforcement when that happens.

 

When a police officer pulls someone over they’re just doing what they’re supposed to be doing, which is to keep the community safe. 

 

Yes, I’m one of those who has seen the flashing lights behind me as I was being pulled over, and no, I wasn’t too excited to see an officer when it’s happened. 

Even so, I’ve been in a number of situations where I was extremely happy to see law enforcement. Their job is about much more than just handing out traffic tickets. 

 

One cold winter night when I was a teenager, I was heading to a friend’s house and the vehicle I was driving broke down out in the middle of nowhere. It had started to storm and there wasn’t much traffic so I made the decision to try to walk to the nearest town. 

 

After a couple miles, I was freezing and had started to regret my decision, so when a car pulled over and the man inside asked if I needed a ride I jumped in. Less than a mile later his car ran out of gas and I was stranded again.

 

Out of nowhere a police officer showed up, and after explaining the situation he drove us into town. After he had the station call my friend to come and pick me up, he brought me to a café and asked the owner to bring me a cup of coffee to warm up with.

 

When we had our house fire years ago a police officer was first on the scene. Our cars were trapped inside the garage, so he drove my six-month-old daughter and me to her daycare so she had somewhere safe to stay while the fire was being put out.

 

I’ve had law enforcement take the time to stop and check to make sure everything was okay. One evening my sister was at my house loading some things into her van. When she was finished she came back inside before she went home, leaving the van parked in the driveway at an angle with the lights on and the hatch up.

 

We lost track of time while we were talking and suddenly there was a knock at the door. It was a police officer who had noticed her vehicle had been left unattended like that for a while and wanted to make sure everything was okay.

 

Then there’s the dangerous, potentially life-threatening situations they face. Just this week Wright Co. law enforcement was involved in a high-speed pursuit after a vehicle was spotted in Clearwater driving slowly through the lots of businesses that were closed for the night. The officer approached to investigate and the driver sped off.

 

The person inside the vehicle might have had a gun or tried to run him over when he exited the police car. Knowing this, the officer still did his job, which is to protect and serve the public. Last year 144 law enforcement officers lost their lives in the line of duty.

 

Communities and individuals need to take the time to show law enforcement officers they recognize and appreciate the difficult and often dangerous public service career they have chosen. A rewarding career can often be a thankless job.

 

It’s especially easy to forget about law enforcement and what they do for our communities on a daily basis if you don’t interact regularly with them, but it’s the little things that mean the most.

 

Thank officers you see in person, pick up their tab when you see them eating lunch at a local restaurant, share positive things about what they do on social media.

 

There are over 900,000 law enforcement officers in the United States. Make the effort to thank one of them.