Our View: Thankful to those who serve our community

Jamie Eagleman, according to legal papers filed in District Court, stabbed a bartender in the back twice, attacked one police officer while carrying a knife she had concealed in her groin area. She lunged at another officer and threw knives at two staffers from the Hill County Detention Center.

All of this, legal papers say, was prompted because Town Pump didn't want her to steal a pack of cigarettes and Magic Diamond Casino wouldn't serve her more than two beers although she wasn’t gambling on the machines.

Now, the heart of our legal system is that Eagleman is innocent until proven guilty. Havre police and the Hill County Attorney’s office have a lot of hard work ahead of them as they compile the evidence in an attempt to prove Eagleman guilty. That is as it should be.

But if one quarter of what is alleged in the papers is proven, it is a vivid reminder of the dangers our police officers and law enforcement officials face daily.

Certainly the events Wednesday night were out of the ordinary, but officers face daily crazy events involving mad, intoxicated or disturbed people that have the potential to spin out of control into violent episodes. Most of the time they are successful at resolving the situation peacefully. From all indications, there was no way that was going to happen in the Eagleman case.

For most people — unless they were shopping in Town Pump that night or gambling at Magic Diamond — the whole episode was just a reminder that awful things can happen in this town that we are proud of because of its quiet, peaceful atmosphere. But it is very reassuring that in Havre, an incident like this is still shocking news to people, not a run-of-the-mill police story.

It is a time to be grateful that we live in a community where a rash of thoughts and prayers are headed to Northern Montana Hospital where the bartender is recuperating from her injuries.

We hope too, that it is a community where people will take a moment to, in coming days, thank law enforcement officials and their families. Each day officers go to work not knowing if this is the day they will face a violent episode such as the Town Pump incident or a standoff with a troubled man who wants to hold police at bay and maybe commit suicide such as happened last year.

By putting on the uniform and badge, they are putting their faith in society and assuring us all that for whatever problems it has, society will survive and prosper.

We join the public in thanking officers in thanking not only the Havre police, but Hill County Sheriff’s deputies, U.S. Border Patrol agents, Rocky Boy police and Montana Highway Patrol officers, all of whom serve Hill County.