Dear Editor,

I still remember waking up early in the morning when I was in grade school to the sound of my dad gearing up in his uniform to go patrol the streets. It was always around 6:00 A.M., but I could never be sure because it was too dark to read my clock in my peach colored bedroom. I’d fall back asleep until it was time to get up for school, and I knew throughout the day, my dad was out there helping people. All those Easter mornings my dad had to miss–I knew he was helping people. He never told me about how many times he’d been shot at. He never told me how many times he could have been killed. He would come home a little after 4:00 P.M. with a smile on his face, and my world was simple. Police are the heroes. And then, back in 2020, this started.

Defund the police, they say. Defund the people who keep you safe. Defund the people who risk their lives for you. Defund the people who could be killed every single day just so you can have the basic freedoms like walking down the sidewalk without worrying about getting attacked. Defund the defenders.

Many people think we should cut down on spending for police departments and get more community policing involved. Some people even want to abolish the police altogether. If we lived in a TV-Y world where the worst crime is the occasional stolen lollipop, then yes. That would work. However, we are not in a TV-Y world. There are bad people. Those bad people won’t give you a running start. They won’t care how many motivational phrases were drilled into their mind during their community support officer meeting. Someone could snap at any time, and suddenly, you find yourself face to face with someone who wants to murder you.

We need people who are trained for these kinds of intense situations that can start in the blink of an eye. If we cut police departments’ spending, that means fewer police officers. And that can be the difference between the life or death of a citizen.

“911, what’s your emergency?”

“I just got kidnapped. Please help me.”

“Due to the defunding, we currently have no available officers to assist you. Please hold on while I contact other departments. It could take a while.”

Elevator on-hold music is not something I would want to hear while I’m desperately praying for someone to save me. It’s a simple fact: really bad people doing really bad things requires police officers, with all their necessary tools, in order to take control of the situation.

There is always going to be a handful of police officers who shouldn’t be police officers. The same goes with politicians, doctors, teachers, priests, chefs, coaches and every other profession there is. Horrible people exist. It’s unfortunate they can somehow make their way into high positions, but that doesn’t mean every other person with the same career has their mindset. The vast majority of police officers are good people. Why would someone dedicate their life to protecting people they don’t even know if they weren’t virtuous?

Yes. Some police officers do the wrong things. But we can’t just punish the remaining goodhearted officers with disrespect, hate and unappreciativeness. They do their job because they want to keep their country safe and free, sacrificing themselves for others. But instead of being grateful, many people thank the police with hostility.

As for the people who want to rid this country of police entirely, they just simply lack common sense.

Now a junior in high school, I fully support law enforcement, as always. They deserve a major thank you. So next time you see an officer on patrol, thank them. They do so much more than you realize, asking nothing in return. So what are you going to choose? Defund or defend?