There are just some jobs that you’re glad that someone does, and you’re equally glad that that someone isn’t you.
The medical field is one of those types of jobs for me, and, after coming across today’s story, law enforcement goes on that list, too.
I’m very glad that there are good people who want to do that kind of work, that feel called to do that kind of work. Those people have my appreciation and respect.
But some of the situations that they have to deal with would be emotionally traumatizing for many people.
A situation like that happened recently in Illinois. Dave Urbanski writes,
Police in Alsip, Illinois — a village about 30 minutes south of Chicago — said officers were dispatched to the area of 124th Street and South Cicero Avenue around 10 p.m. Monday in response to a 911 call from a female saying she was being chased by an active shooter.
While officers were responding, the female made several more 911 calls saying she had a loaded gun, that she had killed a cop, and that she would kill another officer, police said.
The female caller’s phone was geographically tracked to the Burr Oak Cemetery, police said, adding that officers searched the cemetery and found the female in the west end of the cemetery.
As officers approached, the female fled, scaled a fence, and crossed Cicero Avenue, police said, adding that pursuing officers issued multiple verbal commands for her to stop.
However, she turned and pointed a firearm at officers, police said.
When this happened, the police officers felt that they had no other option but to fire on the woman, and even though they tried to save her life, she died from the injuries.
Now, based on what we know, the woman clearly was emotionally unstable and was suffering from a mental health challenge.
But if someone points a gun at you and has already said that they have killed people like you (police officers, in this case) and intend to kill more, can you afford to not take the risk seriously when they point the gun at you?
Not if you want to be able to go home at the end of the day.
Still, it can’t be easy having to deal with the emotional aftermath of knowing that you had to fire on someone dealing with a mental health crisis because you were put into an untenable situation.
So, thank you to the good law enforcement officers out there, the ones who genuinely care about people and genuinely want to help them.
