OFFICER DOWN!

“For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.
For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.” (Romans 13:3-6)

I know that may be a little tough to understand in the King James Version, but it’s from Romans 13 which tells us we ought to respect and submit to government and civil authority. Now, OF COURSE there are exceptions to that! When Hitler and the Nazis ordered, “All Jews will now be rounded up!” did THAT mean Christians should obey? No. There ARE certain times when God DOES expect us to practice “civil disobedience”. But when it comes to the general idea of laws, police, taxes, etc., we ARE to obey. The above, in fact, primarily deals with the reason we need police officers.

I mention that because tonight (Thursday, June 24, 2010) at 10 p.m. Eastern time, the immediate aftermath of the April 2009 shooting of Framingham police officer Phil Hurton will be featured as one of the stories on the premier episode of ABC’s “Boston Med”. My understanding is that Boston Med will be far more of a documentary than a “reality show”. ABC spent over a year shooting footage inside several of Boston’s top hospitals, including Brigham & Women’s, Children’s, and Mass. General.

It seems like whenever something “big” happens, I’m away! When people ask me where I was during the great blizzard of 1978 I have to tell them I was in Springfield, Missouri and missed the whole thing. Out there in Springfield, Missouri, my daughter Amy experienced their catastrophic ice storm of January 2007 when much of the city had no electricity and was covered in ice for days. Well, I was up in New England and missed that. And, when Officer Hurton was shot, which was a HUGE story in Framingham, I was on my one month “sabbatical leave” in (you guessed it) Springfield, Missouri.

The shooting happened no more than a half mile from where our church facility was located. On youtube if you search for it, you can find a “Framingham Police responding” video from April 2009 which runs for several minutes. It was shot by a bystander downtown and shows a large number of marked and unmarked police cars responding to that shooting. Officer Hurton was in the hospital for several weeks. I know that some of our church people sent him get well cards, along with hundreds of others. I remember him being featured on the local PBS public affairs show, “Greater Boston” at the time he was returning to work.

We’re all happy that Officer Hurton lived, but from what I hear, when we see tonight’s program, we’ll see how CLOSE he came to death! I’ve been a resident of Framingham for over 23 years. Like most long-term residents, I’ve had several encounters with the Framingham police, most good, and some not so good. It’s easy to focus on the “not so good” ones and become critical. It’s easy to forget how much we owe “the men and women in blue”. I remember the night our church office was robbed during a church service. The police officer who responded could not have been more professional. That’s also true of several times the police responded to vandalism incidents at our property. And, one time, a robber who’d stolen a laptop computer from a downtown businessman ran to our parking lot and into the woods. Hot on his trail was a Framingham Police officer who quickly apprehended him and had him in handcuffs. It was like watching Fox TV’s “COPS” only in real life! Overall, the Framingham Police do a good job. I’ve heard Chief Carl maligned from the right for being “too soft on illegal aliens” and maligned from the left for being “too tough on public drunkenness”. In fact, I’ve sat in meetings of clergy and community leaders through the years where Chief Carl and Deputy Chiefs Ferguson and Davis have been present. These guys are not “perfect” - nobody is- but overall they’re very professional and do a great job.

Thanks Framingham police- thanks Officer Hurton. Hope many of you get a chance to watch “Boston Med” tonight.