Anytime someone is shot and killed, whether during the commission of a crime or simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time, it is a tragedy that all would like to avoid.  But sometimes, it happens and no community in the country is immune.

Sure some cities are more violent than others, but the loss of life on the streets of Chicago is no less tragic that if it happened in a sleepy hamlet, or a small town venue.

The same is true about the cause of the killing, whether it involves a policeman, gang member, or just a random drive-by.  But there seems to be a much greater value placed on the lives of police victims, regardless of the circumstances.

Some would have you to believe that all police officers are systematically hunting down young black males and exterminating them.  Others cry out the young black victims of police shootings would not have been harmed if they had simply followed the officer’s instructions.

Like almost every issue, neither side is correct, and each time a person is killed by a police officer is under a different set of circumstances.  Sometimes the officer has to fire his weapon to protect himself or others around him.  Sometimes, over-zealous cops overreact and take a life unnecessarily.  Unfortunately, just like in the ordinary citizen population, there are also bad cops.

Any time a police officer is involved in shooting or the discharge of his or her weapon, there is automatically an investigation into the circumstances.  In most cases, the shooting is found to be justified, but in cases where it was not, the officer faces disciplinary action or possible criminal charges.

In today’s world, however, there is no time for an investigation to understand what actually happened before reactions by the population, the elected officials and the news media.  Almost immediately, crowds gather, and in many cases more violence erupts.  Over the next few days, fueled by news reports and race-baiting pundits on both sides, the initially peaceful protests escalate into riots, nonsensically causing personal and property damage to the crowd’s own neighbors and neighborhoods.

If given time to gather the facts and act responsibly with regard to the incident, thousands of dollars in property damage and numerous personal injuries could be avoided.  All it would take is a little patience and cooler heads.  After the investigation, if the citizens still feel the police acted inappropriately, there are courses of action to pursue, up to and including protesting in the streets.

But why is more value placed by the community on the lives taken by police and law enforcement than on those taken by other members of the community?

After a police shooting, immediate protests follow, outside interests flock into the area and news crew trucks are parked at every corner.  When a young black man is shot down while standing innocently on a downtown street, it seems no one cares.

Young black males are being killed by other black males, other white males, and females of all races every day across America, and no one organizes a protest or demonstration.  It is so common that it barely gets a paragraph in the newspaper.

So, if black lives matter, why no outrage against the killing of young black males by anyone other than the police?  Why aren’t our elected officials pledging to spend millions to stop the killings?  Why aren’t community leaders constantly on the airways asking members of the community to turn in the perpetrators, and bring justice for their victims?

There is only one instance where the value of a life taken by a policeman is greater than that of one taken by another person, and it lies with those who would seek to profit from further expanding racial divides.

All black lives matter.  All lives matter, especially those innocent lives snuffed out in random acts of violence.

Why don’t we focus all that energy fueling street protests into cleaning up the communities in which we live?  Doing so would provide more opportunities for young black men, and likely lead to fewer confrontations with the police.

Quite possibly, that would be the single best thing that could be done to prevent even more police shootings.