El Monte Police Department: Enough is Enough

It's around 5:15 pm and I receive a notification on my phone, one of many that I have received throughout the day. I take a quick look and I see a notification that two El Monte police officers have just been shot. I swipe to the right just to get it off my screen page. It's one of many notifications that I get on my phone, and instantly I pause and think, that's two El Monte police officers.

El Monte is not a city I lived in but it was a city I knew very well, we had our church there in multiple locations for over 55 years. Our church was incorporated in 1962 by a group of immigrants who had traveled from Holland. It was a small little church on the north side of El Monte located on Hemlock Street, across the street from Circle K. This is the church where I accepted Christ as my Savior and this is also the place I was baptized. Our congregation would spend our last 10 years in a larger church building on Lower Azusa.

El Monte is a place we called home, it was a place where my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ gathered. We know El Monte has its share of crimes, and we were not immune to some of the vandalism and burglaries at our church and in the community. But, we also felt safe. Multiple times we had to call the Police during our years in the city, but thinking back not as many as I thought.

I do remember one time our pastor arrived at the church a little early on our Thursday morning service. He entered the wrong code in the security box and was not able to disarm the alarm. Immediately the alarm company sent the police to the property. I had just shown up with my wife and kids and was able to disarm the alarm. By then it was too late and an El Monte Police cruiser was driving up in the parking lot.

I spoke with two officers, he asked if we were okay and I explained what had happened and my pastor and his wife were in the building. He said they were going to check inside the building to make sure everything is clear. I thought it to be odd after I told him everything was okay, but they insisted on coming in to check. But this is exactly what police officers do every day. It’s the little things we civilians don’t notice or see.

Both officers checked the rooms, bathroom, and the sanctuary where my pastor was standing with his wife. This I will never forget. One of the officers in his calm demeanor walked slowly to my pastor and placed his arms gently around his shoulder and said “is everything okay?”. My pastor said, “yes, everything is okay”.

All I saw in the building were my wife, kids, pastor, his wife, and two officers. Everything seemed fine to me! But for the officers I could have been holding everyone hostage, I could have had a gun, I could have been the bad guy. There are so many scenarios playing out in their minds and they are relying on their experiences and training. We continued to have a small chat with them and they proceeded to leave. I walked them out to their cruiser and I thanked them. This is just one of the many calls they will have for the day.

So when the news sank in that two police were shot I must say I was saddened, it didn’t take that much longer before social media was giving word that both officers had died. My sadness turned to disappointment and anger. These two officers responded to a reported stabbing at a motel in El Monte and it turned out to be a shootout with a 35-year-old suspect.

City of El Monte police department statement.

Police Cpl. Michael Paredes was a 22-year veteran who leaves behind his wife, son, and daughter.

Officer Joseph Santana worked for the San Bernardino Sheriff's Department before joining the El Monte Police department, he leaves behind his wife, daughter, and twin boys.

Both officers were no strangers to El Monte, Mayor Jessica Ancona said, “They grew up here; to us, they’re El Monte homegrown,” “they’re our boys.”

I can't help but think and pray for their wives and kids. Being widowed so young and having to raise children without a father in the house.

Enough is enough!

It's been a few days since the incident and my emotions and finger blaming have somewhat settled. But still, deep inside I am disappointed.

In the last two years, we have seen our officers across the nation be subjects of scorn and ridicule. Politicians and leaders of our nation have completely abandoned our sworn officers. The very ones that have accepted a job to serve and protect the residents of our great country.

The cry of police brutality and defunding the police has profited our mainstream media, as they religiously continue to air segment after segment of officers' every move. There is no denying that our country is in a state of lawlessness, we see it, and statistics prove it.

Our politicians with very little common sense have created a perfect recipe for disaster in our cities, and specifically, the cities which they so call want to help. Our impoverished, low-income, minority communities are feeling the effect of defunding the police. It hurts the law-abiding residents in these communities when officers cannot support or protect them. It increases violence and crime because criminals know they can get away with the crimes they commit.

More than ever our law enforcement needs the support of our communities. The El Monte Police Department Instagram page has garnered more than 21,000 likes and nearly a thousand comments in the announcement of the officer's deaths.

For me, it took one officer who placed his arm around the shoulder of my pastor, comforting and assuring his safety that represented all the officers of the El Monte Police Department. To serve and protect and that’s just what they do.

Our prayers go out to the families of Cpl. Michael Paredes and officer Joseph Santana, specifically their wives and children. Also to the El Monte Police Department and community.

Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.

Psalm 82:3-4