It is hard to sit and write this as we have just lost five officers to a cowardly senseless attack.

This comes after a very hard week overall for law enforcement nationwide as numerous violent events unfolded. Many times on the weekly update, we highlight what has happened during the week, and put humorous spins to it all. We have done a lot of great work this last week, but I just don’t have it in me to put a humorous spin on things when it feels so somber at this time.

And maybe that is the right response for this week, to reflect and appreciate the work we have done and are doing in our community. Also, please take a look at the officer next to you and appreciate them for being there for you on all the tough calls. Dallas Police Department is no doubt a lot like ours. There were men and women joking in line-up and they hit the street to deal with the rally. However, the unthinkable happened and five of them are not going home.

The bottom line is, we have a very hard job and at no time in history has our profession been called on to step up more than now.

We face terrorists from outside bent on destroying the country we love. We have terrorists from the inside, and it seems like they are growing in number. From Sandy Hook to Columbine to Dallas, police are called to do the impossible.

So like the Chief points out, the best thing we can do right now is get out into our community and talk to our people. While I think we all would prefer to pull back and close ranks, that is exactly what fear wants us to do, and we don’t allow fear to drive us … ever.

Great examples of what our community really thinks of us took place just this week.

Corporal Miller was approached while getting coffee by a young African American woman who went out of her way to thank him for his service and make it known that our police department is viewed as a good one and our officers were appreciated.

Not long after that, Captain Burchett was engaged by an older African American gentleman whom he sees every day, but has never really spoken to. The man made a point of engaging and being friendly in light of all that has happened, wanting to say hello and let the Captain know he appreciated our department and the men and woman in it.

As the day has progressed, I heard from many officers about people going out of their way to say “Thank you.”

We had one citizen actually call in to 911 to report that she supports the police and wanted them to pass on her support for the officer in light of all that has been happening.

We had a mother of two small kids stop by and drop off Starbucks coffee with her girls to say thank you and be safe.

Later, another woman dropped off donuts to say thanks.

Then after that, we received some pizzas from other concerned citizens. We are greatly supported.

The great work our officers do every day is paying dividends in the community. The way they treat our citizens day in and day out is appreciated and has not gone unnoticed. As other departments around the country and in our state struggle with their community relations, our community supports us due to the way we have taken care of the them and conducted ourselves as professionals each day.

That is the update. The world is an unsafe and unpredictable place and no one knows that better than the police do. We do our job hoping that others can actually forget that, and have peace in their homes, on their streets and at their rallies. Thank you to our citizens for their support during a really hard week.

— Tom Wolfe, Captain of the Bremerton Police Department