MEMPHIS, Tenn. — There is a disturbing trend occurring across America and the Mid-South is not immune. Law enforcement officers are being targeted by brazen gunmen at an alarming rate.
Consider this example just in the past week: An off duty Memphis police lieutenant was shot in the drive way of his Olive Branch home. A DeSoto County sheriff’s department spokesperson called the shooting an ambush. Now, thankfully, the officer was not seriously injured and the alleged shooter has been arrested.
But other attacks had deadly results. In New York, an officer was fatally shot Friday while responding to a domestic disturbance in Harlem, and in the most heinous example, a Harris County Texas deputy making a traffic stop was killed when the motorist got out and sprayed the officer’s squad car with a hail of bullets Sunday morning. The officer never had a chance.
Meanwhile, an East Tennessee officer was shot and seriously wounded early Friday during a traffic stop in Sullivan County.
You could make the argument that these attacks are the result of too many guns in the wrong hands, but it goes deeper than that. There is a growing disrespect for law enforcement. We saw it last year on January 6th at the Capitol and we’re seeing it now in big cities and small towns.
If it doesn’t stop, the very fabric of our society, which is law and order, will continue to erode.
I’m Otis Sanford, and that’s my point of view.