A salute to New Jersey police officers… quick story (Opinion)

In the last two years, law enforcement in this country has come under fire, both literally and figuratively.

From calls to defund the police to outright violence toward officers and police property, the images have been disturbing and frightening. Without the brave men and women who literally serve and protect, social order breaks down and the result is chaos, which we've seen in far too many instances.

There has been a sharp increase in the number of officer deaths last year: 458, a 55% increase over the previous year, according to the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund. It has resulted in low morale in many departments and a lack of new recruits in cities across the country.

You really have to be brave and committed to wanting to be a cop these days.

We've been critical of the police in the past, especially when it seems the only contact law-abiding citizens have with cops is when you're getting pulled over and written up for a minor traffic violation. Things have changed quite a bit in the last two years. Police seem to be a lot more civilian-friendly when interacting with the public. Maybe it's to combat all of the bad PR or maybe it's always been that way. It's all up to your perspective.

We were out for a day in the beautiful weather Sunday and stopped at a legendary eatery in beautiful downtown Lambertville. We decided to take a look at the really cool wine bar downstairs when one of the people in our party fell down a few stairs and appeared to be pretty hurt.

Out of nowhere two "biker dudes" swarmed us and offered to help with ice, a chair, and some sound advice on not moving the injured party. They looked pretty badass and tough, so it was confusing as to what was going on.

As it turned out, they identified themselves as off-duty police officers from another town and wanted to reassure us they were there to help in any way we needed. One of the cops was an officer with the Jackson PD, named Mike. Apparently, they wanted to enjoy the beautiful day with a ride on their cycles to Lambertville and New Hope, as so many bikers do.

They could not have been nicer or more helpful, which just goes to show that for so many cops, their first instinct is to help anyone in the public in need. We should all remember that and give our thanks more often to those who serve and protect here in New Jersey.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Dennis Malloy only.

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