Thursday is National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day, and I think we should take the day to appreciate the good officers in our community.

In today’s day and age, there has never been such a big divide between citizens and law enforcement, with national media often highlighting police abuses that have eroded the public’s trust. While I do believe it is important for the public to know when these abuses happen — to both hold individual officers accountable and acknowledge there has been a broader culture in place that has allowed these things to happen — I believe that most officers, especially in smaller communities, work hard to be a part of the community and take care of it. And here in southwest Michigan, I believe we have some of the best officers around.

Take, for example, Dowagiac Director of Public Safety Steve Grinnewald. Not only does he participate in many community activities and ensure the public knows he is a person they can lean on, he is also actively involved in several charitable organizations including the Optimist Club, and Domestic and Sexual Abuse Services, which works to raise awareness of domestic and sexual violence in southwest Michigan and provide services to survivors.

Another example is Cass County Sheriff Richard Behnke. He is involved in community organizations such as Rotary International, and I have also seen how happy he is when his department gives back to the community through events like Shop with a Cop and No-Shave November.

I believe these officers — and other law enforcement officials in Buchanan, Cassopolis, Dowagiac, Edwardsburg and Niles — have the best interests of the community at heart and work hard and make sacrifices to keep their residents safe. In between their duties, they work to bridge the gap between residents and law enforcement officials by simply being a part of the community.

I know I’m not the only one who feels this way — people tell me all the time how much they appreciate our law enforcement officers around here. So, this Thursday, I hope some of those people will show their appreciation of our local departments and help to hold up our communities as shining examples of what relationships between law enforcement officers and the citizens they serve can look like.