The very idea of putting a gun and a bullet-proof vest on frightens a lot of people.

Which is one of the reason cops should be so well respected.

But a handful of police officers are willing to do more than be the foot soldiers of the law, and put their lives on the line in special ways.

A group of Selma Police Officers, exhibiting the sort of bravery that makes us fainter souls shake our heads,

rushed into a burning home and pulled a man out, undoubtedly saving his life.

Police officers are a strange breed to start with.

They go to work everyday literally putting their lives on the line when they pin their badges on.

They do it for a lot of reasons, but the biggest and most common is community service. These are the people in your city who feels the best way to pitch in is offer direct protection against crime.

That’s enough for Offices Billy Wright, Brian Dixon, Reginald Fitts, Harry Tubbs and Sgt. David Hopkins.

They’ve got to go around running into burning buildings and saving even more lives.

Thank goodness.

As a rule, police officers are a modest bunch. They tend to view heroics and lifesaving behaviors as all in a day’s work.

So it’s up to everybody else to let them know they did a good job.

At The Times-Journal, we would like to extend praise to the Mayor, the City Council and the leadership at the Selma Police Department for doing just that. We’d like to add our own meager pat on the back to the boys in blue, and encourage everyone to do the same.

Because police officers save lives, everyday.

Just being on the streets, answering calls and writing traffic tickets saves lives.

Rushing into burning buildings may be a natural extension of that call to service all officers experience, but it’s good for the civilian population to be reminded of that call every now and again as well.

Thank you, to the Selma Police Department, for making life a little safer for everyone.