Let's stop this madness

In the relatively brief span of 48 hours this week, local law enforcement and first responders encountered the aftermath of a day-old murder of a 5-year-old girl, a Monday evening suicide, followed by a Tuesday morning attack in which a woman was left with a knife embedded in her left eye.

Local police officers and sheriff's deputies, firefighters and EMTs, the county prosecutor and the county coroner have, indeed, had an eventful week.

And it's only Tuesday.

There's an old saying that everyone hates the law enforcement officer until he needs one. And then he still finds a way to hate him.

Maybe they say the same thing about firefighters. I don't know.

But I do know this: They (we) shouldn't.

Perhaps if there's been a single common denominator in these cases – and this is a clearly labeled opinion piece, so allow me this speculation – it's the combination of poverty and congenital hostility, with a sufficiently volatile mixture of drugs and alcohol.

With that said, neither is an acceptable excuse. Frankly, there is NO acceptable excuse.

No 5-year-old child should be beaten to death.

No young lady should have a knife stuck through her eye at 6 o'clock in the morning.

No idiot should open fire on his fellow man in a Colorado movie house.

No idiot should open fire in a Milwaukee temple or college campus or anywhere else.

Why does any human being behave in such a wicked manner? Has growing up on inane TV shows warped the human brain to such a degree that many of us can no longer separate fantasy from reality?

What, pray tell, could possibly possess any human being (and I use the term loosely) to murder a child or attack a woman with possible intent to kill?

Seriously, it is beyond my (limited) power of comprehension.

And then it occurred to me while listening to the local police scanner around 6 o'clock this morning: Our law enforcement officers and emergency responders do not have the luxury of trying to sort it all out. They must respond when called.

They respond to a potential crime scene, not knowing what they may encounter. A dead child. An impaled victim. Another dead body.

These are the people who must find order amid all the chaos. They must remain calm and make requests for emergency medical air transport. And when weather conditions may temporarily suspend air support – as happened Tuesday morning, they must formulate the best backup plan and do so in a matter of moments.

My wife has been a nurse for more than 25 years. She has worked in Emergency Rooms, OB Departments, Surgical Units and Hospice Care. She has seen most medical conditions from birth to death, firsthand, up close and personal.

Again, I don't know how medical professionals do it, either.

It's not that I mind the sight of blood. I've hunted and fished for years and killed and cleaned my share of animals. It's the human pain and suffering that always gets to me.

Life is preciously and precariously short as it is. Why anyone would intentionally inflict such physical pain and abuse on someone – with absolutely no cause – is more than I can fathom.

Most of our law enforcement officers and firefighters are parents. Believe it or not, they'll all tell you that being a father or a mother is much more important than anything else in their life.

But when they get the emergency 911 call, they react, almost instinctively, to another calling. For firefighters, it's the old adage that they are the ones running into a burning building when everyone in the burning building is trying to run out.

In the past 48 hours, we have had local first responders who have no doubt ridden an emotional roller-coaster with these atrocities.

When I spoke with Highland County Prosecutor Anneka Collins today – who, by the way, has never tried to tell the media how to do their job and surely doesn't need the media to tell her how to do hers – during an arraignment for a murder suspect, she told me she was doing OK through the entire crime scene investigation. It was professional business as usual. Everything by the book.

She didn't say anything more, but I can only imagine how she felt upon returning home from the investigation.

She's a parent, too.

So is the sheriff.

So is the police chief.

So are most of these first responders.

As a parent who is blessed with three wonderful (adult) children, I cannot envision any circumstances in which I could maintain the emotional capacity necessary to complete a thorough and accurate investigation.

My personal upbringing, courtesy of my father's side, would relegate me to "lock and load" formation and seek a sudden and immediate remedy to the perpetrator's present condition.

That feeling is most un-Christlike and I'm sorry for mentioning it. The point is simply to illustrate the emotions that first responders must overcome in order to perform their legal and professional obligation in these investigations.

For what it is worth, people like Sheriff Ron Ward, Prosecutor Anneka Collins, Police Chiefs Nick Thompson and Tim Hester, and so many others in Highland County do a very good job of maintaining their professional composure when so many around them are losing theirs.

Our community is better than this. Let's stop the nonsense. Let's stop the violence. If anyone reading this is in a potentially dangerous or hostile situation, get out. Now. Call the police, call the sheriff, call the Highland County Victim Witness Program. Call a friend, a family member. Hell, if nothing else, call me. I'm in the phone book. I'll find someone to help. I promise.

But, please, let's stop this madness. Poverty is no excuse. I've been there. It doesn't give you a blank check for criminal behavior.

These acts – which most of us cannot fully comprehend – are placing unreasonable demands on first responders. They and their families do not deserve to be put through this.

Let's act like civilized human beings. Is that too much to ask?

Rory Ryan is publisher of The Highland County Press.