While watching the episode of The Andy Griffith Show called Lawman Barney, I began to think about the problems with law enforcement currently. First responders are becoming targets for those who dislike authority. Police officers are ambushed frequently. The justification for some of these attacks has been incidents of police killing what are thought to be innocent people.

I will not talk about these incidents here. Keep watching and I will write about many of these police shootings later. In 1962 when the episode aired for the first time, police officers were respected in most small towns in America. Nationwide murder rates from then until 2017 have not quite doubled. During this same period, all crimes have almost tripled.

Ambush deaths of officers increased from eight in 2015 to 21 in 2016. Common reasoning credits the public in general for being angry with law enforcement. The rash of police murders of innocent people is the claimed justification for these murders of officers.

Is there a general disrespect for those who are hired to protect us? According to a 2016 Gallup poll, respect for police rose from 64% in 2015 to 76% in 2016. The same year attacks on police increased, and Americans voiced more admiration for their protectors. Who then is responsible for these attacks?

The short answer is criminals. That should surprise none of us. Body cameras on more officers should decrease the number of members of law enforcement who are set free after abusing their power. Hopefully, that will bring a reduction in police ambushes. It will not eliminate all of them. Police are fighting a war for us, and the enemy is the criminal element. That group will always view the uniformed officer as a target. All we can do is pray for them and be more vigilant in our own communities.

If you are one of those who complain about lawlessness and the current state of crime, do not think you can turn your back. It is time to do something. Support the police, courts, and those who have been victims. I do not know what it is like to be the one in jail or victimized by them. I have been a witness on more than one occasion.

I’ve watched drunk drivers involved in accidents and try to get away. I had someone die from being shot in front of my eyes. It took me months to process that, and I’m not sure I’ve gotten over it yet.

I know that you think I am just one of those pampered white people. What about the pampered blacks, Hispanics, and other minorities that obey the laws and are not part of the problem. They are the solution.

©Copyright 2025 by Charles Kensinger