A retired Aurora Police officer with more than three decades on the job believes this is a difficult time for men and women in law enforcement.
Don James says after the deadly attacks on police in Dallas and Baton Rouge, he was upset but not surprised.
"In fact, I was wondering when it was going to happen, unfortunately," said James, a retired Aurora Police officer.
For more than half his life, James wore a badge. He joined the Aurora Police Department when he was just 21 years old and for over 33 years, he worked as a street cop and SWAT team member.
“Police are an easy target. We’ve been an easy target forever," he said.
James took an oath, like the nearly one million officers in the U.S., to protect and serve. But that's being overshadowed by the recent shootings by police and against them.
“There are a lot of good people out here, police officers, average citizens. It’s the bad apples that make it bad for everyone. Those are the things we have to look at, how do we solve those problems. The average person, they don’t want to go out and shoot cops. The average officer doesn’t want to go out and shoot people," he said.
But the shootings in Texas and Louisiana are making that reality hard to see. James believes violence can't be solved with more violence.
Officers want to get home to their families at the end of the day just like everyone else.
“Every time you put that badge on and you walk out of there, you’ve understood the risks you were taking," said James.
