In an instant, the lives of the families of five Dallas police officers have been irrevocably changed, and those families now face a lifetime of coping with the loss of their loved ones. Those families will not grieve alone. Friends, brother and sister officers, a city, state, and indeed, a nation will grieve with them and stand by them in the days to come.
In the near-term, this cowardly attack on 12 of Dallas’ Finest as well as the innocent civilians victimized by this sniper, is a game changer. This ambush will result in the evolution of more cautious and deliberate patrol operations on the part of police in cities across the nation. The peaceful protest that occurred in Dallas followed on the heels of two police-involved shootings in other parts of the country. Neither of those incidents happened in Dallas, or even Texas. But the fact that Dallas was not the scene of either of the prior incidents should make every police department in this nation take notice. Law enforcement agencies in other parts of the country, such as New York and Tennessee, have already experienced assassinations prompted by hatred of police.