Law enforcement, civilians -- a community divided

As I was watching the news on the first day of 2015, I saw yet another story of a shooting involving police and the conflicting views from both sides. Arguments were about what the officer did right, as well as what he did wrong. As I was listening to the different "experts" that presented arguments from both sides, I noticed that both people were referring to the cops as "they" and the public as "we." Although the divide between law enforcement officers and the public has been more strained throughout the country since the incidents in Ferguson, it was not until that moment that I realized the problem is not just an opinion on police tactics, the use of force, or the outcome of confrontations being used by law enforcement; instead it is the perception that some members of the public and the police have on who members of law enforcement are.

Tom Clancy, a famous writer best known for his technically detailed espionage and military science storylines set during and in the aftermath of the Cold War, said, "The U.S. Military is us. There is no truer representation of a country than the people that it sends into the field to fight for it. The people who wear our uniform and carry our rifles into combat are our kids, and our job is to support them, because they're protecting us."

Although there is a difference between the military and local law enforcement, the representation is still the same. They are us! The cops are our sons and daughters, our mothers and fathers, our brothers and sisters. They are sent out to serve and protect the people who put them there in the first place. There is an extremely wide view of how that job should be carried out, but I think that before we can truly address that issue we must remember it is not us against them. This view is not only a view from the side of non-law enforcement citizens either. There are some members in law enforcement around the country that are reacting to the growing divide in our communities by having the view that it is now "us against them." In their view they are being targeted and attacked by the public and to some of the public, they are the ones being targeted and attacked by the police. I do not have the answers to what will mend this growing divide, but I do think a good start will be to remember that we work for a community that we are part of. When a life is lost or someone is injured, there will be members of a community grieving no matter what "side" they were on. There is no us and them, there are police, fire fighters, paramedics, doctors, lawyers, business store owners, farmers, factory workers, etc. We are all who makes up a community and almost everyone has members of their family working in a wide variety of these jobs and careers. If there are issues in any line of work that need to be addressed then they should be, but we must remember where we came from and who we are. We are you, and you are us. If a divide can be brought back together, it will take everyone in the community working hard, and working together.