Serving and Protecting [OPINION]

I woke up this morning, horrified by the attack on the Dallas Police where 11 officers were shot, 5 fatally on Thursday night in what was otherwise a peaceful rally.  One of the best quotes I have read was from Taylor Kinzler in which she said "All lives matter but not all lives are being targeted".

It's not easy being a police officer today. I have interviewed many of the Ellsworth Police Department, they'll tell you that they are being outgunned and that drugs are running rampant in our streets. Yet they and others are out serving and protecting and keeping us safe. They risk their lives everyday.

I realize that there are some "rogue cops", some "bad cops", and I guarantee you that the "good ones" don't want them on the force. They give police officers everywhere a black eye.

I had the privilege of riding with police officers here in Bangor when I was a city councilor many years ago. I would go out with them often, and you would be amazed what they deal with on a daily and nightly basis and that was a long time ago. It's gotten worse. My neighbor is a police officer and I worry about him daily, and this morning said a prayer to protect him and asked God to watch over him, his wife and 3 young children.

You might say but Chris you're a middle aged white man, why would you ever have a bad experience with a police officer? I can't imagine what it's like to be a person of color and have an inherent distrust of the police. I grew up in Bermuda, as a white non-Bermudian I was a minority. I lived through riots on the Island.

But we must come together as a country. I don't know how, because everyday it seems we are more and more divided. Social media plays a part in this. It almost seems like it's going to get worse before it gets better.