.ס֣וּר מֵ֭רָע וַעֲשֵׂה־ט֑וֹב בַּקֵּ֖שׁ שָׁל֣וֹם וְרׇדְפֵֽהוּ
“Turn aside from evil and do good. Demand peace and pursue it.”
—Psalm 34:15
On Sunday, our nation solemnly marked Peace Officers Memorial Day with flags flown at half mast and memorials throughout the nation—the largest taking place at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington D.C.—paying tribute to local, state, federal, and tribal officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty.
Fittingly, the name afforded by this day to those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the battle against crime is “peace officer,” rather than “law enforcement officer.” Though the American public has—over the years—conflated these two terms, they stand in stark contrast to one another. The latter implies the use of force to compel obedience to the laws of the land, while the former denotes the pursuit of peace, one of our tradition’s most sacred values.
These very different titles confer very different identities and responsibilities upon the officers who hold them. These titles also shape the relationships between the officers and the civilians they serve. With that in mind, I pose to you two questions: How might the guise and perception of our nation’s uniformed officers change were we to return to describing their mandate in terms of promoting peace, rather than enforcing compliance? How might our interactions with our nation’s uniformed officers change were we to acknowledge—even while awaiting a traffic ticket—that their sacred duty is to pursue peace on behalf of our city, our state, and our nation?
May the souls of our nation’s fallen peace officers finally discover the perfect gift of peace in the Divine embrace—together with the holy and pure, whose light shines like the radiance of heaven.
—Rabbi Josh Knobel