FROM THE EDITOR: Why protecting us comes at a cost which time hasn’t changed

It would be far quicker to list what has stayed the same rather than what is different and I’m sure we could have quite a debate about certain elements which we wish had been protected so we still had them.

However, today’s front page story is a depressing reminder that we all need to do more to make sure we protect the group of Sheffielders who are there to protect us.

People all too often refer to the police as if they have forgotten that they are just ordinary folk like you and me.

Yes, they have certain powers which your average citizen doesn’t possess but that is because we all need them to be able to uphold the law as efficiently as possible for all our sakes.

William Beardmore was just doing his job when he was hit on the head with a stone and fatally injured 165 years ago today.

It is hard to imagine what his parents and wife must have gone through all those decades ago.

All 98 police officers who have returned to their families in recent weeks nursing injuries were doing the same.

Time may have passed but their emotions and pain will be identical to that of the Beardmore family no matter what the date.

The role of a police officer puts them at risk by its very nature.

That is as true in 2020 as it was in 1855.

When anybody in a position of power does wrong they must be held to account, it is vitally important because of the trust our society places in them.

But I am sure that we can all agree that police officers never deserve to be physically injured just as they should never injure any of us.

Hundreds of officers in this city run towards danger while we run in the opposite direction and they deserve appreciation that they rarely receive.

Imagine what they go through on the front line every single day, let alone during lockdown when they have willingly put themselves at extra risk of catching coronavirus because they couldn’t stay home.

We needed them our there working on our behalf, like we always do.

When did you last say thank you or even ‘hello’ as you passed a Sheffielder in a police uniform?

Have a think on that as we remember 165 years ago and an event that should not be allowed to fade out of this city’s memory.