Major Paul Fertig

“Public safety is our most important value because it makes everything else possible. When we feel safe, we get to know our neighbors. When we feel safe, our kids are free to explore. When we feel safe, our businesses can thrive. When we feel safe, our schools can be woven more deeply into the community. When we feel safe we are more open to accept people who look, worship or act differently than us.

Public safety is our most basic community service and the irony is that the better we deliver the service the less people think about it. The children who walk safely to school, the neighbors who walk to the corner store, the commuter who walks home from the bus or train late at night, the senior citizen sitting safely on their front porch at sunset rarely think that they can only enjoy this kind of life because of the protection provided by their local police officers. In our daily life, we usually think about our police when something has gone wrong… When an officer dies or when he or she makes a mistake.

So it takes a special person to be a police officer—a person who can protect and serve, with strength and compassion, often without that recognition—willingly ready to put themselves in harm’s way so others can go about their daily lives.”