Every year at the Oscars, there is an “In Memoriam” segment, in which movie people who have died in the past year are honored.

This year, Chris Rock joked that the segment would merely show “black people that were shot by the cops on their way to the movies.”

Okay. Policemen make mistakes and commit crimes. This ought to be policed, vigilantly.

Yet, at the same time I was reading about Chris Rock, I was reading about Ashley Guindon. She was a woman who recently joined a police force in Virginia. On her very first shift, she was shot and killed. She was answering the call of duty. She was 28 years old.

We should never forget what they do for us, every day.

P.S. In September 2014, I wrote an essay called “A Job Like No Other: On Policing.” Those interested may go here.