Hollow Words Will Never Trump Heroic Actions – Law Officer

By Stephen Owsinski

It is widely held that people working in public safety—police, fire/rescue, and EMS—often work together on incidents requiring feats of selflessness toward incredible lifesaving operations.

First responders don’t boast, with words such as “Watch what I can do!” They just do it. They perform the demanding duty at hand. They demonstrate years of hardcore training that only their peers witness at academies…where getting dirty is an inherent ingredient.

I reminisce about every single training day at the police academy: my fitness was optimized thanks to structured rigors that all recruits must endure “to make it.” The sweat equity was welcomed, marking the remnants of striving to do the right thing no matter the grueling process…right up to the Finish Line.

Wonder if politicos can relate to that…

I know some law enforcement officers who subsequently ran for and secured elected office, primarily championing first responders and their dire needs. They are few, though.

Largely, folks in suits reportedly representing people who placed them in such plateaus have zero idea what it is like to perform in undeniably hazardous roles. Yet, they are at the head of the line to critique and chide and chastise and condemn first responders who have concentrations on actions—heroic ones—and not hollow words spoken into media mics.

It is so stale.

Unsure about you…but I’d prefer to marvel at the heroic deeds meekly carried out by first responders working in tandem to save souls from utter destruction: God’s will.

On March 1, 2024, a bridge connecting Indiana and Kentucky was in national (international?) focus when a trucker operating a semi-tractor trailer somehow found herself dangling up high, contained in the rig, glaring at the waterway below, the vehicular crisis reportedly caused by an oncoming vehicle.

A conglomerate of rescuers from Louisville, Kentucky’s public safety sectors responded and rose to the occasion…after being lowered over the twisted railing of the expanse.

(Photo courtesy of the Louisville Metro Police Department’s River Unit)  

“All the credit goes right here,” Louisville Fire Chief Brian O’Neill said in a press conference Friday. “These are some serious heroes. This was some really professional, well-practiced, well-trained stuff,” a Fox News piece indicated.

From the Louisville Metro Police blotter: “We wanted to give a huge shout-out to our partners at the Louisville Division of Fire personnel who safely rescued the driver of this semi tractor-trailer during a dramatic rescue after a serious motor vehicle collision which resulted in the semi going over the side of the Clark Memorial Bridge (2nd Street Bridge) in Louisville.

“It was a team effort by all the First Responders who responded to this call for service. This collision involved four vehicles, and 3 individuals were transported to University Hospital. [I]mages were captured by LMPD’s River Unit who responded to assist LFD and assist with Ohio River traffic” while death-defying, heroic acts were on display.

The irony here is that Louisville’s law enforcement professionals were targeted by varying political might that sought to weaken the force by defunding proposals and demoralizing maltreatment.

Louisville cops kept on. Still do. Right there on that bridge, alongside firefighters, entirely familiar with one another. I’m certain the dangling trucker had no qualms about heralding public safety assets. How does anyone in good conscience deny heroic actions? You don’t.

Granted, a member of the Louisville Fire Department did the lifesaving deed, but it could have been a police officer specially trained in such a momentous rescue. If not for the Louisville firefighter succeeding heroically, Louisville Metro Police boats would have been positioned below.

The NYPD, the largest municipal law enforcement agency in America, has a contingent of skilled cops assigned to their Emergency Services Unit (ESU), each uber-trained in bridge and skyscraper rescues. Lord knows there are plenty of high-rise structures throughout Manhattan and ample bridge expanses connecting the five boroughs (counties) and neighboring states.

Another irony in the face of anti-police city council members whose words were rife with defunding the police force and similar backward-thinking policies from the safe confines of council chambers. Indeed, someone must govern…

But doing it wrong is why citizens suffer, crime burgeons, and the morgue bloats with innocent victims subjected to the perils of an untamed and unhinged metropolis oddly pedestaling illicit-minded predators.

Hats off to the NYPD officers who somehow stayed on the course. Respect, nevertheless, to those who had enough of the bizarre politicizing of Gotham’s police culture and moved on elsewhere, perhaps to smaller jurisdictions with a more personable composition of governance.

Although police organizations assemble special teams of select cops who demonstrated capacities to fill a role successfully, most of America’s law enforcement entities are considered small and thus have neither the funds nor the staff to organize and maintain such a featured cadre of elite operators.

That doesn’t mean small-town cops do not exhibit heroic actions in their respective territories.

Social media serves up robust segments illustrating local cops on roadside scenes of weeping parent(s) whose infants are not breathing, some choking on whatever was somehow ingested. Heroism saves them.

Conversely, I have never seen a similar scenario whereby a suited or casually dressed elected official was depicted rendering aid to a newborn baby in some sort of plight. I have, however, witnessed way too many disgusting diatribes of politicos holding local, state, and federal stature virtually (and stupidly, due to vehicular traffic at their hips/backs) arguing with a law enforcement officer, typically over something rather menial, like a minor traffic infraction.

You’ve likely seen some of these, possessed with the “Do you know who I am?” keycard seeking to undermine cops and, frankly, get out of a jam they created.

“Do you know who I am?” Those hollow words to a cop’s ears underscore the better-than-thou mentality not uncommon in political circles. However, an LEO’s integrity places the innuendo aside and conducts duty no matter who is in their presence.

Small but heroic, nonetheless, especially with all those cars and trucks whizzing by as suits spout out, berate, and/or threaten the cops’ careers. Hemming and hollering are unbecoming anywhere from anyone at any time.

Like I said: It’s stale.

Back to the bridge save: Granted, it was a fellow hero from Louisville fire services who managed this tremendous save of a trucker whose life had a front-row seat in a horror show, her psyche tormented with every passing second…until a first responder came in with/for the clutched win.

However, what is unseen and unreported by the media are the phalanx of cops on both sides of the bridge who supported those in the center of it, rerouting motorists so that the hanging-by-a-hair rescue operation could succeed without any anomalies to exacerbate the righteous cause.

In this context, law enforcement personnel working traffic details are unrelentingly subjected to verbal onslaughts from irate motorists who “just need to get to the other side,” exhibiting zero interest in a dangling life likely thinking there is zero possibility of salvation.

(Photo courtesy of the Louisville Metro Police Department)

This, too, rubs wrong: During hearings in chambers of elected officials, the decorum is set out and mostly abided and respected; anyone speaking their mind that is deemed out of line is subjected to an ouster from the proceedings.

Not so applicable with cops performing traffic duties that counter a motorist’s desire (demand), essentially amounting to arguing at the threshold of “Interference with a police officer” or “Resisting an officer” or “Obstruction of justice” and the like.

Maybe not rising to heroic levels physically, but mentally, could be a qualifier, especially since this is more of a routine issue and not a one-off like a Hollywood action-packed bridge scene resulting in a huge save thanks to the combined efforts of first responders.

No politics were involved in this Louisville incident, only lifesaving feats by public safety pros.

This article originally appeared at the National Police Association and was reprinted with permission.