Rep. Donald Ardell represents House District 6 in the Maine State Legislature and previously served as a federal special agent and criminal investigator for 25 years.

Many jobs have set schedules and reasonably predictable workflows; law enforcement is not one of them.

This is not only understood by police officers, sheriff’s deputies and troopers themselves, but also by their friends and family. Their sacrifice helps to create the safe and ordered society Mainers enjoy. 

I served for 25 years as a federal special agent and criminal investigator, and I know what it’s like to work through the night, work on holidays and miss family events and to be behind the scenes of events that most people don’t even know are happening.

Uniformed officers routinely answer calls for service to help people on the worst day of their lives and have a duty to act in situations from which most Mainers would prefer to look away.  But our co-workers, our friends and our family know we consider the profession an honor and wouldn’t have it any other way.

I mention this to emphasize the importance of law enforcement’s role in our society. Police Week (May 10-16) doesn’t have department store sales, and banks don’t close on May 15, Peace Officers Memorial Day. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t important to briefly remember the good work and sacrifice these officers are committed to. 

Police Week was originally established by President John F. Kennedy in October of 1962 when he signed the bill into law. To quote the resolution, “these men and women by their patriotic service and their dedicated efforts have earned the gratitude of the Republic.” I agree with President Kennedy. 

I’m grateful we live in a country and a state where the work of peace officers isn’t something that people have to think about.  If it was, it would mean we were experiencing significant societal disorder, rampant crime and victimization at the hands of criminals. For the most part, we are not. This is all the more reason that every citizen considers the contributions of law enforcement officers this week.

Peace Officers Memorial Day is a representation of lives lost, injuries sustained, mental health battles and countless hours away from loved ones. 

We have many holidays to honor the range of sacrifices and work from the United States military, and we do well in that regard. I am glad we have a holiday to remember our law enforcement officers, and I hope that awareness continues to grow over time. 

I have the privilege of being close friends with many law enforcement officers and members of the United States military. When I read that a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate said that cops are bastards — “all of them, in fact” — I was, at first, angry.  Not only was Graham Platner calling me a “bastard,” but he called the men and women I worked with “bastards” too. 

And while that is not the type of person I want representing me or other Mainers in Congress, his statement speaks volumes about his naivety on the role that law enforcement officers play in keeping our society a place where we can work, learn, play and live without fear of crime. 

Law enforcement’s success on that front has created an environment where someone like Platner is safe from these threats, where he isn’t subject to them, and as a result he is completely ignorant to the work that goes into keeping a safe and ordered society. He’s not someone who should represent Maine, and our law enforcement officers deserve a senator who recognizes the important role they play in our society. 

As a Maine state representative and a member of the legislative Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee, I ask you on May 15, Peace Officers Memorial Day, and during Police Week, to briefly consider the role America’s — and Maine’s — law enforcement officers play in keeping our society a safe place we want to live.