It’s a difficult time to be a police officer at the moment— not only in New York City or in Nassau County, but also across the country.

Almost everywhere you look, it seems another innocent policeman is killed in the line duty while trying to protect their cities and the lives of people they’ve never even met. On average, 146 cops are killed in the line of duty each year, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. So far in 2015, there has been 46 police officer casualties, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page.

Unfortunately, this year, the murdering of policemen became very real for Massapequa residents as Officer Brian Moore, a twenty five year old Plainedge High School graduate, was assassinated by criminal Demetrius Blackwell, who has lengthy record of legal offenses. During his altercation with Blackwell, Moore told the suspect to stop adjusting his waistband and was shot twice in the head. The killing came directly after Freddie Gray, a twenty five year old African-American man, died in police custody in Baltimore following his arrest.

“When one of our officers falls in the line of duty, like Brian Moore, we have to remember what he [sacrificed] and they [all other police officers] sacrifice to keep the peace,” journalist and news reporter Geraldo Rivera said in a Facebook post. “And come on all you impassioned protesters, don’t cops’ lives matter too?”

In December, in light of the the Ferguson protests in Missouri, Officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu were assassinated while sitting in their patrol car for the same reason Officer Moore was killed—none. The only motive behind these assassinations was the mere fact that the deceased were police officers.

After the deaths, there seemed to be almost no reaction. No riots ensued and no buildings were destroyed, unlike in Ferguson and Baltimore, where people guilty of crimes were killed by police, which led to both cities being destroyed by riots.

Obviously, something needs to be done about the lack of respect people have for all the good cops do.

As the son of a police officer myself, I find it downright terrifying that delinquents think taking the lives of someone with the intention of protecting theirs is justified. Imagine coming home from school one day to find out your father or mother was murdered at work while just trying to keep the peace in the place you call home. Imagine your guardian being shot while sitting in his or her car minding their own business. The thoughts are chilling, quite frankly, and children shouldn’t have to worry about whether or not saying goodbye to their parents in the morning would be the last time they ever do so.

“I’ve heard [about] more riots from criminals being killed by police than criminals killing police, which I’m shocked about,” junior Ally Wick said. “It isn’t right because they are sacrificing their lives to keep us safe.”

What people often don’t understand about this threatening of the lives of cops is how big of an impact it can have. Think about the officers themselves. Do you really think they have as bad of intentions as the media so often portrays? In the end, they are just people with families, friends, dreams, and aspirations. Is it really fair to take all this away from them solely due to the fact that they are wearing a gold badge and blue uniform? And think about their families; is it fair that they have to live with a huge loss for the same reason?

Another thing people don’t seem to comprehend about cops is that it isn’t their fault when people get arrested for committing a crime or even something as small as a parking ticket. Was it them that did the act or parked in the wrong spot? No, they are just doing their job.

Next time anyone goes to bash on police for arresting or ticketing anyone who disobeys the law— regardless of their gender, age, or race— one should remember that police should be respected for all they do for us when they put their uniform on everyday, knowing that they could pay the ultimate sacrifice at any time in any place.

“Police do a job that many people are not willing to do,” technology teacher Mr. Vincent Salamone said. “They deal with a part of society that many people don’t want to admit exists and no matter what we look at under a microscope, we always see the bad.”