Editor's Corner: Senseless Violence Must Stop

This week, a son lost his father.

A mother and father lost a son who dedicated his life to helping the most helpless of animals as a veterinarian, someone who wanted to protect and serve his fellow men and women as a part-time police officer. This week, the world lost East Washington police officer John D. Dryer.

During holiday gatherings, there will be an empty chair where he once sat—and there are thousands of empty hearts filled with loss. That loss will never go away.

There is an escalating epidemic in western Pennsylvania—and probably the country—of senseless violence against police officers.

This problem is growing, it is frightening, it is sad and it is unacceptable. But where does change begin? What is the answer to this horrific problem? It is my hope that as decent people who care about their neighbors, maybe we can all find some way to make a difference. Maybe we as a country can somehow, someway, find an answer. I do not know what that answer is, but I know how it starts—and it starts with respect.

In small communities, including , , and various neighborhoods throughout the region, police officers are known on a first-name basis—or at least recognized by face. We see them on patrol every day, they wave, we say hello—they are neighbors. They are friends. They are members of the community. Police officers are not untouchable robots. They are men and women with families, friends, loved ones and lives. They are heroes—and remember, human beings—who do thankless jobs every single day of their lives. Even something as simple as a traffic stop in our own minds is a life or death situation for local officers.

How many of us put on a bullet proof vest before a work day? Not many. It is time for law enforcement members to get the respect they deserve. It is time for this mindless, depraved and senseless violence to stop.

I know that many people will be fast to say that police brutality is the reason for this violence as a knee-jerk reaction. Are there bad cops out there? Yes. Are there bad teachers, bad doctors, bad reporters, bad cashiers or bad engineers out there who probably should find a new profession, too? Yes. There are. But that is not why this is happening. Officer Dryer is a perfect example. He didn't have to become a part-time police officer later in life—but he wanted to help.

Look at the faces of the men in our region who have been victimized by on-the-job violence. Earlier this month, an officer at Virginia Tech was shot and killed after a traffic stop. Lower Burrell Officer Derek Kotecki, a K-9 handler, was killed in October from a gunshot wound after attempting to arrest a man at a Dairy Queen restaurant. Over the last few years, we've lost more still—including the horrible incident at Stanton Heights in which three Pittsburgh city police officers lost their lives in a standoff.

I am writing this because I know that people in the Regent Square area know their officers, because those are the kinds of people those officers are. They want to help, they want to make our communities better, and they do every day with most people barely noticing.

Fellow citizens need to do their part in protecting their own officers in whatever way they can because those officers put their own lives on the line every day to protect us. Report suspicious activity. Keep your officers informed. Do your part. Be respectful. 

Something must change—and it starts with us today.