STUDENTS SHOULD RESPECT POLICE OFFICERS

In the middle of Saturday's Hempfest, Students for Sensible Drug
Policy President Micah Daigle got up on stage to give those attending
the event a message he described as very important to him.

That message was that although police officers are enforcing policies
they abhor, people should not take their anger over these policies out
on the said enforcers. This message is a very important one that
students opposed to certain government policies should take to heart.

Police officers have never been the most popular people, considering
their jobs consist of arresting people, which people don't like, and
issuing speeding tickets, which people seem to like even less.
However, an officer's job is so much more important than that.

Officers are the best, and sometimes only line of defense between
danger and the average citizen. Whether the criminals are attempting
to steal or murder, it is police officers that prevent this country
from falling into a general anarchy with vigilante justice, at best.

Police officers are the first responders attempting to save lives when
they are imperiled. Thirty-seven officers died during the Sept. 11
attacks on the Twin Towers, and many more die each day in the line of
duty. Officers are willing to put their lives on the line to protect
every citizen of this country, including those who think of officers
as nothing more than "doughnut-eating pigs."

This is not to say it is wrong to disagree with the policies the
police enforce. In fact, dissent with government policy is a surefire
sign of a healthy democracy. Disagreeing with the Drug War or the
PATRIOT Act is not a problem, however, verbally or physically
attacking officers enforcing these policies is just wrong.

This is not to say police are perfect, sometimes they err like any
other human being. Unfortunately, when one makes a mistake while they
are pointing a gun at someone who is perceived as a threat, the
consequences are much more dire than when a cook at McDonald's makes a
mistake with a customer's order.

It is important to see officers not as the policies they enforce, but
as the people they are. Officers are tremendously brave, and are
agreeing to trade their lives for others when they first put on their
badge.

Next time you see the blue and red lights flashing in your rearview
mirror, and find that an officer has pulled you over for speeding, do
not give the officer "a piece of your mind" or complain that you
weren't speeding that much. Instead, shake that officer's hand, and
thank them for the sacrifice they are giving to ensure that this
country remains safe for all its citizens.