National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day
Today is National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day. It’s a day to recognize the men and women who choose a profession that requires making difficult, sometimes life-or-death decisions under intense pressure and with imperfect information.
It also comes at a moment when emotions are understandably high following the tragic incident in Minnesota that has sparked strong and opposing reactions. Some view the event as self-defense. Others view it as murder. Those are serious claims, and they deserve to be handled seriously.
I’m not a lawyer, but I do know one basic principle of our justice system: juries are instructed not to make up their minds until all of the facts have been presented by both sides. Responsible people, especially responsible leaders, should follow the same rule.
Some leaders, when confronted with tragedy, feel compelled to immediately declare what they believe is right, but in moments like this, before an investigation concludes and before all the facts are known, that kind of certainty isn’t leadership, it’s a rush to judgment.
Responsible leadership means holding fast to our principles without pre-deciding outcomes that the evidence hasn’t yet confirmed.
That doesn’t mean ignoring grief or dismissing concern. A life was lost, and that matters. It also means acknowledging that law enforcement officers operate in unpredictable, high-risk situations where decisions are often made in seconds and then judged for years.
We live life in the moment. We don’t have the luxury of hitting rewind and reviewing the tape.
What we don’t need right now are politicians or commentators rushing to conclusions, inflaming anger, or turning tragedy into a talking point. What we do need is patience, transparency, and a commitment to let investigations run their course.
Today, we can do two things at once:
Respect the rule of law and the investigative process
Appreciate the difficult, often thankless work done by our brothers and sisters in law enforcement
Lowering the temperature doesn’t mean lowering our standards.
It means giving justice, and truth, the time they require.
