During this season of sacred and religious holidays around the globe police officers everywhere need your prayers and support.
I attended a prayer vigil this morning outside Denver General Hospital in support of Denver Police Officer John Adsit. Officer Adsit, a nine year veteran of the department, along with three other Denver PD officers where injured while riding bicycle patrol to escort a group of Denver East High School students who wanted to protest the Grand Jury verdict on the police shooting in Ferguson Missouri that took the life of Michael Brown.
The four Denver officers were escorting a group of approx. 500 high school students who were marching down a busy Denver street in protest of the Ferguson Grand Jury’s acquittal of Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson. All four bike officers were hit by a vehicle that went out of control after the driver suffered a medical emergency. Three of the officers were treated and released from the hospital but Officer Adsit is still in critical condition over two weeks after being hit by the vehicle. He has undergone numerous surgeries and has been battling infection and pneumonia.
Please support the men and women of the Denver Police Department and the Adsit family as they pray for the quick recovery of Officer John Adsit.
I raise this issue for two reasons. First, this officer and his family need your prayers and secondly the citizens of the United States need to recognize that this officer was injured protected the rights of people who were protesting against the police. I’m sure when he recovers Officer Adsit would do it all over again. That’s because he is just one of hundreds of thousands of heroes that serve their communities around the world in the role of law enforcement… officers. These men and women do their jobs day in and day out for little money and almost no thanks. Perhaps now is a time to give them your thanks and prayers.
In this season filled with religious meaning even the most cynical can find a moment to get in touch with their own spiritual beliefs and extend their thoughts and prayers to the Adsit family and those officers and families of others in law enforcement who have been injured or killed in these last weeks of the year.
All of us must stand together to support one another and all of us must rededicate ourselves toward maintaining our professional demeanor of excellence in the face of public condemnation.
Here are some facts that many in the general public overlook when bashing the police:
In September 2008, state and local law enforcement agencies in the U.S. employed more than 1.1 million persons on a full-time basis, including about 765,000 sworn personnel (defined as those with general arrest powers).
About half (49%) of all law enforcement agencies in the U.S. employ fewer than 10 full-time officers.
73% of all law enforcement agencies in the U.S. employ fewer than 25 full-time officers.
Crime fighting has taken its toll. Since the first recorded police death in 1791, there have been over 20,000 law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty.
A total of 1,501 law enforcement officers died in the line of duty during the past 10 years, an average of one death every 58 hours or 150 per year. There were 100 law enforcement officers killed in 2013.
On average, over the last decade, there have been 58,261 assaults against law enforcement each year.
Average starting salaries for entry-level local police officers in 2007 (the most recent statistics reported by the U.S. Dept. of Justice) ranged from $26,600 per year in the smallest jurisdictions to $49,500 in the largest. Overall, the average starting salary earned by entry-level officers was about $40,500.
Cops in the U.S. and around the globe are good people. They are underpaid, overworked, under-trained and under respected by the communities they serve. Yet, year after year these fine men and women continue to make our communities safe and secure so that we call all celebrate our holidays with Peace on Earth.
May God bless you all!
For more information about prayers for Denver Police Officer John Adsit and his family please visit:
http://powerpointchurch.wordpress.com/2014/12/12/a-call-for-intercessory-prayer-officer-down/
Read some news stories about Officer Adsit here:
CBS 4 Denver – Denver High School Protesters Accused of ‘Reprehensible’ Actions
December 4, 2014 5:03 PM
http://denver.cbslocal.com/2014/12/04/protestors-accused-of-reprehensible-actions/
The Huffington Post – Denver Police Union Says Students Cheered After Local Officers Were Hit By Car
Posted: 12/05/2014 6:21 pm EST Updated: 12/05/2014 6:59 pm EST
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/05/denver-police-union-east-high_n_6276988.html
Fox 31 Denver – Denver Fund set up for Denver officer hit by car while protecting protesters
http://kdvr.com/2014/12/05/fund-set-up-for-denver-officer-hit-by-car-while-protecting-protesters/
Fox 31 Denver – Denver Police ID driver who hit officers, say no charges filed
Posted 12:59 pm, December 5, 2014
http://kdvr.com/2014/12/05/denver-police-id-driver-who-hit-officers-say-no-charges-filed/
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