EDITORIAL — They who keep us safe

A police captain of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-7 was killed while a police sergeant was wounded after a shootout in Sitio Balaw, Barangay Sudlon 2, Cebu City, around 6 p.m. last Saturday

According to a report in this newspaper, Police Captain Joel Deiparine and Police Executive Master Sergeant Artchel Tero, both assigned to the CIDG Regional Field Unit-7 were on a motorcycle tailing a suspect on whom they were conducting surveillance.

The suspect, who was in a pick-up truck with two others, noticed them following and stopped to shoot at them.

The policemen stopped to return fire and in the exchange Deiparine and Tero were shot. Deiparine, 46, who suffered several gunshot wounds, including a headshot, didn’t make it alive to the hospital while Tero is now recuperating from his wounds.

The suspect and his companions were able to escape.

This is another example of a policeman paying the ultimate sacrifice in the carrying out of his duties.

It’s easy for some of us to disparage those in the police force, especially after what happened in the previous administration when unjustified drug killings were rampant and various accusations against policemen mushroomed. It also cannot be denied that some policemen don’t deserve the badge, the uniform, and the gun, what with scandals involving policemen that break out every now and then.

But make no mistake about this; it’s the men and women of the police force who keep society and our streets safe. They are the ones who go after those who proliferate drugs and perpetrate organized crime. They are the ones who confront the worst people society has to offer. They are the ones who drop everything they are doing and risk leaving everyone they love behind to respond to an alarm or incident that just might end up killing them.

We are kept safe because men like Deiparine and Tero go out every day always with the knowledge that each operation they go on may just happen to be their last.

Our hearts go out to the police captain and those he left behind. The arrest of those responsible cannot come soon enough.