Donning the badge is a daily act of courage

Opinion editor's note: Editorials represent the opinions of the Star Tribune Editorial Board, which operates independently from the newsroom.

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The recent deaths of three regional law enforcement officers in the line of duty underscore what an act of courage it is to put on a badge each day and go to work protecting the public.

Danger can lurk even in the most routine of calls, in communities large and small. An April 8 traffic stop outside of Cameron, Wis. — population 1,876 — claimed the lives of two promising young officers. Emily Breidenbach, 32, and Hunter Scheel, 23, were shot to death after halting a vehicle "based on a warrant and to check welfare of the driver,'' according to Wisconsin law enforcement officials.

Breidenbach served with the Chetek, Wis., police. Scheel began working for the Cameron police in 2022.

But only a few hours after the two Wisconsin officers were laid to rest on Saturday came news of another officer down, this time in the west-central Minnesota community of Cyrus, population 305. Pope County Sheriff's Deputy Joshua Owen and two other deputies were responding to a domestic dispute when the suspect opened fire. Owen, 44, a military veteran who had been on the force for 12 years, died of his injuries.

The three officers leave behind grieving families and communities. By all accounts, Breidenbach, Scheel and Owen exemplified the best of their profession.

In Pope County, Owen's fellow officers said he "had a heart as big as his stature" and that he "loved his family, his brotherhood and his community."

That such outstanding officers and human beings are now gone in what seems like the blink of an eye makes their loss even harder to bear. That their deaths occurred so close together only adds to the pain felt across the region, with emotions for many mirroring the raw, blustery weather.

The tragic shootings also serve as a reminder of a grim reality: Serving in law enforcement is a noble career but one with unavoidable risk.

The Minnesota Law Enforcement Memorial Association keeps a tragic tally of fallen officers, with records going back over a century. It reports 275 line-of-duty deaths, with gunfire responsible for 139 of them.

In Wisconsin, 307 officers have died on the job, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page. That number includes Breidenbach and Scheel. Gunfire is by far the leading cause of death across the border, just as it is in Minnesota.

May the memory of Breidenbach, Scheel and Owen long inspire their communities and the colleagues they left behind. May it also spur elected officials and law enforcement agencies to act.

This an era where police accountability has understandably dominated the spotlight following George Floyd's 2020 death under the knee of a Minneapolis officer.

But that tragedy also urgently illustrated the need to set a higher bar when hiring. Breidenbach, Scheel and Owen represented the balance of strength and compassion needed to do this difficult job and do it well. There are thousands of others like them on the job today across the country, but what can be done to weed out those recruits who eventually turn into bad cops?

And to aid in attracting high-quality candidates, are there policy solutions that could reduce this career's substantial on-the-job risks — including keeping firearms out of the hands of those at highest risk of abusing them?