I was on the phone with my mother, with the news on the background, when they started talking about the Dallas shooting. It was a confusing situation. During a protest by Black Lives Matter and other organizations, a shooting broke out. 12 people were shot, 5 of them died the rest wounded. 11 of them were police officers and 1 civilian.

This was a significant incident given that the protest was against police brutality and the target of this shootings was the police. At the beginning it was thought that there were multiple shooters, but at the end it was found that it was just one well trained one.

You can find bad apples in every bucket, that doesn’t mean that all the apples in the bucket are rotten. I can remember every interaction with the police that I’ve had. I don’t have a particular bad experience to recount. But I know that’s not everyone’s experience. I have been stopped for no reason to ask for my identification, but it has never developed into a situation. They take the information, they verify and I go my merry way.  So I can’t relate to those who have had bad experiences, but I do know that they happen and they are real.

However, the majority of police officers go into this line of work for one reason, and one reason only: to serve. Every day and night they risk their lives to ensure a safe society. Do they need better training? Yes. Do they need better pay? Yes. Are there some that shouldn’t be on the force? Yes. But just like we don’t want racial, socieconomical and gender generalizations, we shouldn’t do it for the brothers in blue.

The story that really encompassed what happened that night was told by one of the protesters. He recounts that he was running when he heard the shots. A police officer pushed him out of the way to safety. At that same moment that cop was shot and was one of the casualties. John 15:13 tells us “
Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” That’s exactly what this officer did and many do every day.

It’s ok to make callouts to justice. It’s not only proper, but a legal right. But we should hold accountable those bad apples instead of harming all the good apples that are working very hard for us.

Food for thought.