Feldman: Officers should be treated as treasures - Los Angeles Local News, Weather, and Traffic

Feldman: Officers should be treated as treasures

Tonight we have a new American hero, a man who put his life on the line for another family because there was danger in their home.

Officer Patrick O'Rourke is one of thousands who put their lives between us and danger every day, and sometimes they pay the ultimate price and their families do, too.

It's my view that we should be keeping them in mind not only when this happens, but also as we sit in our safe and secure offices and buildings and when we go home and enjoy our families.

We should keep them in mind every day, especially when we decide to cut budgets, slash law enforcement and tell these true American heroes that they are still expected to make sacrifices for us, but we are not going to make sacrifices to keep them safe and protect their families.

Before we cut law enforcement and their pay and benefits, as we are doing in many communities, it's my view that we should ask the people they serve and protect to ante up a little more to keep them employed, safe and to keep their families from making even more sacrifices.  West Bloomfield did that last year, but other communities keep cutting, most notably Detroit.

We keep libraries, museums and art institutes open.  The law enforcement professionals in our communities are also treasures.  We should be treating them as such.