Hundreds of mourners, including many law enforcement officers,gathered Friday for the funeral of Simpson County Sheriff E.C.Mullins, who died last week in the line of duty.

Exactly what happened in the moments just before Sheriff Mullinsdied will probably never be known. Authorities have determined thesheriff’s death came after he responded to a Tuesday morning callthat a man was standing in front of passing cars on a rural road afew miles east of Mendenhall. An autopsy concluded Mullins died ofsudden cardiac arrest due to blows he received in an encounter withthe man. The suspect is now facing a capital murder charge.

Sheriff Mullins’ death has captured the attention of the entirestate — as it should. We all need to be reminded about the manygood men and women who literally put their lives on the line everyday to protect others. They work hard, often for too little pay andeven less gratitude, to protect citizens, their homes and theirbusinesses.

It shouldn’t take a tragedy for us to realize all the many goodthings these true public servants do for us.

The next time you see a law enforcement officer, say “thankyou.”