Written by Norman Johnson, contributing writer
This week I want us to consider some of the inherent dangers that face law enforcement personnel day in day out. Most every day, while on duty, and sometimes when they are off duty dangers that we the citizens rarely think about. The news media reported this past week of a double murder involving a Constable and his wife over in Shelby County. Often the best of officers can’t control the evils facing them.
I often watch law enforcement officers and their actions. One officer, a dear friend of mine, looks as calm as a kitten. But buddy he is one of the toughest men I know. He does everything he can to stay out of television and newspaper pictures. Over the years he has handled some of the nastiest crime in Nacogdoches County. By simply wearing jeans and shirts his identity is probably as well hidden as any law man.
In contrast, I know another law man, an elected official on the lowest rung of the ladder. He dresses in camouflage (has anybody told him the Iraq war is over?), A t-shirt to show off his well-toned muscles, a military haircut and his weapon very visible. He seems to always make sure there is a newspaper camera close by.
It’s interesting to watch young officers getting a haircut. It’s always a military style. They are tough customers and go after all the criminals in a jurisdiction, not just the drug dealers. We need, as the saying goes, men with poise, not boys with noise.
It is fairly obvious who this “contributing writer” is talking about on both counts. No one pays any attention to him anyway.
Why are you afraid to name names?