Let's protect cops - and help them out as well

Police in Upper Darby are getting some extra protection.

On our editorial page today we note they also could use something else: Some information and cooperation.

Township officers are going to be outfitted with special, heavy duty vests for instances when they are dealing with an "active shooterk" type situation. The vests have special front and back plating made to withstand blasts from rifles and automatic weapons.

But there is another problem they are dealing with that needs a bit more human touch.

In our editorial today, we note how two recent incidents show what police officers all too often deal with: A lack of cooperation from the public.

In one incident, a township teen was wounded in a shooting that occurred near a crowded intersection with lots of witnesses. But no one - not even the victim - is willing to talk to police.

The other is even more exasperating. After making an arrest of a Philadelphia man in a series of thefts from cars, police in both Upper Darby and Haverford lamented that this was made possible by the fact that in almost every instance the cars were not locked.

You can read the editorial here.

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