Question of the Week: Protecting officers, citizens

Austin Coldwater Clemons: More citizens should arm themselves so they can be prepared to protect law enforcement when needed,

Christopher M. Bracewell: An armed society is a polite society! I'm good with backing up the Good Guys for a change!

Douglass Scott: Too many people carrying guns is part of the problem. How is an officer to have the edge on a violator when every good guy is expected to have a gun. ... If that “good guy” comes to a shooting, will he correctly identify law enforcement from others? My suggestion in assisting law enforcement is, keep your guns at home and allow law enforcement and security to (professionally) do their job.

Tim Smith: Better law enforcement screening and training, and above those, body cameras. All cost money, which apparently Republicans don't want to spend.

Kyle Chambliss: End to the war on drugs.....

A Latrice Smith: How about training them to respect citizens....to protect and serve more than police. Communicate with designated community liaisons to figure out where the disconnect is.

Helen Miller-Redd: Establish better communication between officers and the public through regular meetings wherein the public can be better educated concerning what they can do to help officers protect them and in turn they can also help the officers by reporting suspicious activities in their respective neighborhoods.

Farrah Cox: Punish those who injure or kill officers much more severely -- such as public hanging.

Mike Hood: I have a feeling that if police officers stopped shooting so many unarmed people, that would help more than anything.

Slade Wilson: Do? Quit blaming everything on cops....yes there are some bad ones but there are MORE GOOD ones....NAME ONE job that all employees are perfect employees YOU CAN'T ....every occupation has good employees and bad employees... also if a criminal kills a cop, forget jail time, send them to execution chamber...THESE men and women get up , put on a uniform to PROTECT US....and we should respect them just like we respect the soldiers that protect us..Some of you may not respect them...I do..

John Allen Berry: This is kinda conceptual, but go with me on it. How about if our Commander in Chief and state and local leaders came out and supported the work that the police do. Not ignoring the fact that there are some bad ones, but heck there are some bad ones in the priesthood. But the majority, I gotta believe, are decent, good people who got into the profession because they wanted to protect and serve.

June O'Brien: Every cop should have a partner and never face a call alone! All officers should have video rolling when making a traffic stop or answering a call. Protect our law enforcement !!! Spend additional money to hire more trained professional cops and give the cops a large pay raise! Our law enforcement salary is very low and they put their lives on the line daily!

Cody Ballard: First give them more money! Second,gun control isn't gonna help,third give armored patrol cars,fourth always have a partner! Just my thought!

Brent Porter Skelton: Community policing works in every other civilized society.

PT Taylor: Quite the conundrum, since they, apparently, aren't allowed to defend themselves when their lives are in danger.

Gregory Ward: Get ole sparky back in service, an put in a express lane.

Patrick Bullock: Quit letting criminals who have committed several violent crimes back out on the streets.

Sumpter Smartt: Well since heart attacks are one of the leading causes of officer death, I'd think better access to healthcare for officers would be an obvious solution.

Lynn White Gipson: We need to watch out for our officers just like they watch out for us. The government needs to back up and let our officers do their job as they were trained to do.God bless our officers.

Denver Lee Harris: If police want to be respected again, they need to drop the gang mentality and speak out against the bad cops. Let the community know they are not against them. But this rarely happens because the Blue gang does see it as Cops vs citizens. Until that changes, they will be violence and hatred. ... Bottom line: the good cops need to speak out against brutality. They need to speak out against the rogue cops out there, and those rogue cops need severely punished for betraying public trust. Show the groups that feel like their lives don't matter to cops, that they do.

Haroldlyn Skinner: Automatic 25 years in prison for any type of assault on a police officer.... And that's the FIRST offense. The second offense, you're a LIFER. And this includes the canines. And equestrians.

Armond Kenyatta Riptoe: Cops need a bigger gun.

Joey Teichert: Teach children respect and authority. The problem is the rules only apply to others and not ourselves.

Felecia Key: I understand protecting the officers but what about us the citizens.

Mabel Allen: Better Training, raise qualifications to require a Bachelors in Administration of Justice, increase Community Foot Patrols and have Police Officers go door to door on their beats to personally introduce themselves to their neighbors... and the Community rally around the Police Department Officers, and work together... that is when both will see Citizens and Officers will humanize each other Amen.