To the Editors:

Brave and selfless women and men volunteer to serve in our armed services to support America by being willing to lay down their lives in faraway lands in defense of the United States of America. We can and should support them a lot better than we do.

Similarly, women and men who volunteer to serve us at home as police officers deserve our thanks and support. These two august institutions make it possible for us all to enjoy a sufficient degree of peace and orderliness, thereby affording us the tranquility and stability to address other challenges, concerns, etc.

All those in the armed services or on the police force do not always meet our minimum level of behavior all the time; indeed, some commit acts that dishonor their professions and shame our country, and they must be brought to justice. But let us all be wary of the temptation to cry out against either institution in an unmitigated, wholesale manner. Instead, let us demand that everything be done as quickly as possible to improve both, for we surely cannot function without them in 2016 or ever.

– Booker C. Peek
Emeritus Associate Professor of Africana Studies