Tony Arguelles: Provide more officers to protect our city
On Oct. 24 every local law enforcement agency in the Sacramento area responded to the call of “an officer needs assistance.” A suspect had opened fire, fatally wounding an officer and was on a path of destruction while attempting to escape. The suspect was apprehended only after leaving a trail of despair.
As a result of the suspects’ actions, two law-enforcement officers have lost their lives with another critically wounded after placing themselves in harm’s way to protect and serve. An innocent citizen was critically injured as well. Immediately, my heart went out to the families, friends and officers affected, and I was deeply thankful my law-enforcement family has been spared this type of destruction and despair while enduring the decimation of our rank-and-file caused by the Great Recession.
I worry for the safety of my fellow officers and our community as we have fewer and fewer officers on our streets to protect it from violence like we saw that day. I ask our elected officials to take note, and collectively fix this problem for our community and the men and women of The Modesto Police Department who serve it.
Tony Arguelles, President, Modesto Police Officers Association, Modesto
This story was originally published October 28, 2014 at 6:58 PM with the headline "Tony Arguelles: Provide more officers to protect our city."