OREGON, OH (WTOL) - Oregon Police Chief Mike Navarre is a 39-year law enforcement veteran who says being in law enforcement is a much more difficult job today than it has ever been.
"What happened in Dallas tells us that just the fact that they wear the uniform puts them in harms way," he said.
As Toledo Police Chief for 13 years, and chief of Oregon police since December 2011, Navarre knows the dangers that come with the job of being a police officer saying most come from responding to a call.
He says, now, officers may be unsure of any situation they are in and that uncertain environment may have an impact on future recruiting classes.
"If these types of senseless tragedies continue, what young person will want to wear that uniform and put their lives in danger? " he said. "We're asking a lot of our officers today."
Navarre says the recent police-involved shooting deaths in Louisiana and Minnesota that sparked the national backlash and the deaths of the five officers in Dallas are both parts of the same problem facing our country. And that, hopefully, these recent tragedies could actually lead to change.
"We should all be shocked, we should all be outraged; this has got to stop," he said.
Chief Navarre is also one of 13 members of the the Governor's Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Relations Advisory Board.
