Police officers aren’t exactly popular in this day and age. The left hates them for being authority figure that upholds a system they consider to be racist and unfair, whereas recent events have gotten conservatives to view them as less trustworthy. There’s no question that conservatives still see police as important, but Uvalde taught the right a very deep lesson.

But lost in it all is the simple fact that police are, in fact, still humans. While there have been some very egregious moves by law enforcement, most of the people who get up and put a badge and a gun on every day are good people. More than that, they’re simply human.

One video truly shows you just how human they are. As posted by Breitbart, a video shows two officers responding to a call about an armed man in a Dollar General who had discharged a firearm. One officer approaches the store to see a black man identified as Jalail Whitted, 37, with a phone in hand and what looks to be a firearm tucked into his right pocket. The officer instructs the man to put his hands up only to have the suspect reply with “shoot me.”

Officers pleaded and begged for the man to cooperate but he continued to move toward officers slowly, every now and again threatening to reach for his firearm. Clearly, the police did not want to shoot him and can be heard frantically asking him not to make any moves that would force them to fire on him, but the suspect continued to repeat “shoot me” and made slow movements toward his firearm.

Eventually, officers were forced to fire on Whitted, wounding him but not killing him. While this part was definitely the climax of the video, what caught more attention was one of the officer’s reactions to having had to shoot another human being, whom he presumably thought he had killed.

The officer went into shock and stood still as a statue with his gun still pointed at the suspect, even as his fellow officers converged on Whitted. Eventually, one of his fellow officers noticed he was frozen in place and came over to assist. They had to coax and pry the gun out of his hands which didn’t seem to want to move.

Eventually, his fellow officers managed to get the gun out of his hands and unloaded the firearm. They hand it to the Sargeant on duty and the Lieutenant makes it clear that he needs to go to the hospital and orders two officers to go with him.

It’s important to remember that these men and women are out here still doing a job that needs to be done and that not everyone can do, and that it takes a very real toll on the people who do it. The badge is heavy, and while those who put it on don’t always measure up, more often than not, they’re a positive force on our society.

They deserve our understanding and support.