This is a Call to Action from the police families of the United States. We come to you as a united front on behalf of our law enforcement officers across the country. We stand together as we collectively refuse to allow our officers to be discounted, disrespected, and devalued any longer. It is time for answers, it is time for change, and it is time for the truth of our reality to be heard.

Since the beginning of 2009, the felonious deaths of law enforcement officers by gunfire has steadily increased; we saw a 35 percent increase in deaths by gunfire in 2009, and another 17 percent increase above that in 2010. Unfortunately 2011 proved to be not only worse, but it ended with the highest amount of officer deaths by gunfire in years — 68 federal, state and local officers died by gunfire, a 15 percent jump from last year when 59 were killed. It marks the first time in 14 years that firearms fatalities were higher than traffic-related deaths.

The only thing worse than the actual number of officer deaths by gunfire in 2011, is the manner in which the many of our officers were shot and killed. Many of those killed were ambushed, executed, they were assassinated. We lost some as they simply sat in their patrol cars, waiting for a traffic light to change or while doing paperwork. San Diego Police Officer Jeremy Henwood was shot and killed as he sat in his patrol car August 7, in a completely unprovoked ambush just a few moments after buying a child some cookies at a McDonalds. Even more disturbing than our officers being repeatedly ambushed is that there is a clear and calculated method by their killers to purposely shoot our officers in the head. It is a clear and deliberate intent to avoid body armor, a clear and deliberate intent to kill. Adding to this horrible reality is the fact that they are being murdered by repeat offenders, some felons, who should never be in possession of a firearm for any reason.

In addition to the dramatically increasing amounts of deaths by gunfire, there has been a mass increase in the negative perception of law enforcement across our nation. Many would say that is only the fault of corrupt and law abusing officers, and that is the mentality which must change in this country. There absolutely are corrupt officers and officers who abuse their power and officers who cover up wrongdoings and are criminals themselves. You won’t find a profession that exists free of corruption or abuse of power or underhanded actions by some. But for some reason, it is only in regard to law enforcement that you ever see the actions of some become the burden of all.

How many white collar criminals are there in this nation who have squandered millions from our citizens, leaving hard working people financially devastated and robbed of their retirement? Yet those same citizens are eager to find a new person to manage their finances, to help them recover and get back on their feet. How many citizens have had a horrible experience with a doctor, or a lawyer, a dentist, a plumber, or a mechanic? At some point we will all have a bad experience with someone in some profession, yet we are intelligent enough to know that there are bad eggs in every bunch. So why do so many in our country have the mentality that one bad cop makes them all bad cops? The answer is simple. People do not want to be policed. They want to speed when they are late, they want to drive after they drink, they want to smoke pot when it isn’t legal, they want to shoplift when they are broke. People do not want to be told what they have the right to do, but they expect to live in a society where they are safe and protected from those who would speed while drunk and slam into their lives. They want people who would break into their homes or steal their cars to be held accountable. They would be the first to demand justice should a wrongdoing happen to them, but they resent having to live by the same rules. The easiest place to target their resentment is the police, who do not make the laws, but enforce them.

And why is it acceptable for our media to misrepresent our officers with no accountability? You will see ten negative cop stories before you ever see one positive cop story. This is not because there is more negativity to report than the positive, it is simply because bad cop stories drive ratings and incense the public. The UC Davis protest video is a prime example. The entire nation saw only a brief snippet of a fifteen minute long video in which police had given warning after warning to the protesters to move, not because they were protesting peacefully, but because a group more than double the amount of officers had encircled the officers. And these “peaceful protestors” told police officers that they, the police, were not allowed to leave “their” (the students) campus. At what point did it become alright in America for college age kids to openly and blatantly defy an officer of the law? And why didn’t the media anywhere, ever ask that question or show the other 14 minutes of that video?

Our law enforcement officers are human beings. They are real men and women, fathers, mothers, sons, daughters. They have children. Over THREE HUNDRED children lost their parent due to line of duty deaths in 2011. These children are not losing their parents due to “the risks of the job”. Our officers are not dying because “that’s what they signed up for”. Our officers are being hunted. They are being purposely sought out, ambushed, targeted, and executed by gun shots to the head. They are being completely disregarded by our youth, by adults, and by their own government who refuses to protect them. Departments across the country have cut officer jobs and prisons across the country continue to allow repeat offenders back on the streets. We have less officers and more criminals, and now, we have a breed of criminal whose answer to avoiding arrest is to slaughter a law enforcement officer.

People will say; there are approximately 900,000 law enforcement officers in the United States, to lose only 177 in a year and only have 68 die by gunfire is actually a very good statistic. There are over 700,000 physicians in the United States. Can you honestly say that if 177 physicians were killed and over 60 of them were murdered in their clinics, or in the hospital shot point blank in the head, that it would seem like a good statistic? Do you think people would take notice? Do you think someone would demand changes to protect our doctors from these murderous felons? I think they would.

If not for our law enforcement officers, then who? Who will protect our streets and communities? Will you? Are you willing to even understand what they do; what they are faced with; what they see; what they never forget? Are you willing to pull a dead little girl from a twisted wreck, use a wet wipe to clean up and finish your shift? Could you endure the images from Texas at Christmas of a massacre of an entire family and not be affected? Could you walk out into the unknown each day knowing every thirty four hours one of your brothers or sisters is being killed and not worry you could be next? Could you tolerate being shot at, run down by motorists, yelled at, called a PIG, spit on, peed on, had feces hurled at you, get stuck by needles, be attacked and wrestled to the ground while keeping control of your weapon? Could you avoid a knife coming from nowhere, a shotgun blast from the dark, an unobservant driver headed straight for you as you stand in the snow on a highway at 3:00am? Could you sit for an entire day bored with nothing to but paperwork knowing how many of your own were shot in the head doing that very thing? Could you miss holidays and birthdays and anniversaries? Could you work 14 hour shifts wearing 25lbs of gear and be ready to fight for your life at any moment? Could you subject your family to it? Could you subject your children to it?

Regardless if you hate the police, there is no one else. At what point do you, the citizens and leaders and media in this nation, start to acknowledge that if armed gunmen are shooting cops in the head, there’s not going to be anyone left to stop them from shooting you? At what point will this nation acknowledge the worth of our officers?

What other profession draws such hatred of men? There is no other, because people want no orders. People want protection with no policing. Without policing there is no protection. Without protection there is mayhem. It is time for change. It is time to acknowledge, address and accept that the treatment of our officers must be reformed. It is time to revitalize our youth’s opinion of our law enforcement officers. It is time for the public to respect those who protect them and understand how few officers there are to protect them. It is time recognize there is a human behind every badge. There is a life, there is someone who is loved, there is someone with hopes and dreams who simply wants to make it home each day. And there are families at home waiting. There are wives and husbands and children who pray each day for their safety, there are those waiting who fear every day they will be left behind. It’s time to change the way we treat our officers. It cannot be ignored any longer. It is time to acknowledge our officers’ worth.

We call you to action, today to stand up with us and change things for the better. Stop this cycle of violence and this attitude of hate. Plead with your lawmakers to be beacons of improvement instead of perpetuating apathy. Speak up when your media is determined to give misinformation and ask them to promote a better community environment. If you think you are too busy to help with this cause, you’re not. Something as simple as thanking and respecting the officers you encounter goes a long way. Think of the example you will set for your own family and your own community if you are supportive instead of hateful. Before you judge a man or woman with a badge, think about this – even though you call them names, they’d still run into the line of fire to protect you. Can you say you’d do the same for someone who treats you so poorly?