In light of recent events such as the Michael Brown case in Ferguson which a police officer shot an African-American teenager eight times and the Eric Garner case in New York which a white police officer was accused of strangling a young African-American man to death, tensions aimed at police officers are higher than usual throughout the United States. It seems that everyone has an opinion and a different insight on these hot-button topics. It appears as though the general consensus is that the public is mad at law enforcement officials. However, while it is understandable to be upset about those particular police officers, it is not acceptable to generalize all law enforcement as the “bad guys.” It would be rather hypocritical of the public to blame law enforcement officers for discriminating against African-Americans and then discriminate against all officers by assuming they are all violent killers. We have to stop generalizing a group of people because of the actions of a select few.

Living in Carmel, we are lucky to have an active and honorable police force that has made our city an incredibly safe place to live. According to neighborhoodscout.com, Carmel is the 33rd safest city in the United States to live and the safest in Indiana. The chances of becoming a victim to violent crime in Carmel are 1 in 7,438, whereas the same chances are 1 in 289 for the state of Indiana. These statistics don’t lie. Sure, the security could partially be attributed to the residents of the city itself, but it is the full-time responsibility of these law enforcement officers to keep the city safe — something they have been doing for a long time and continue to do well.

Of course, in any occupation, there will be exceptions of people who do their jobs poorly or stain the name of an entire occupation. The Ferguson case and the shooting of Trayvon Martin are incidents that will always be shrouded in conflict and unrest, regardless of court verdicts. Despite these controversial cases, we must remember the majority of law enforcement officers who put their lives on the line every day in duty.

Officer Perry Wayne Renn, an Indianapolis police officer for over 20 years and an Army Veteran, was killed in the line of duty just last summer. It was the day after the Fourth of July when he, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page online, “was shot and killed when responding to a report of shots fired.” Officer Renn put his life on the line for more than two decades, serving first our entire country in the Armed Forces and later in the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.

Was this man some detestable monster because he was a police officer? Was he a vulgar racist?

Not at all.

This man was a selfless hero. In an Indy Star article titled “IMPD Officer Perry Renn remembered for kindness, courage,” published a week after Renn’s death, he was commended by Officer Jeff Krider.

Krider said, “The most beautiful thing about Perry was he had no filters; he simply told you what he meant. It was never mean-spirited or of bad intention, he just spoke his mind. There was one way to do things, the right way. Perry left an imprint on you and had a big personality.”

Law enforcement officers have hard jobs. They run toward the crime, toward the gunshots, toward the screaming, when everyone else runs away. Despite that, police officers are, probably more than most other professions, often scorned, criticized and hated. Law enforcement officers are not perfect, but they are certainly not evil. In every occupation, there will be those who cast a dark shadow over the entire law enforcement organization, but those people are certainly in the minority. A few hyper-publicized, extremely controversial cases should not have the power to sway one’s opinion on a large scale organization, especially when the majority of its workers put their lives on the line every day to save ours.

So next time you start thinking about criticizing police officers to others or on social media, step back and consider everything they do for you everyday that go unnoticed to protect you.