I was walking back to my apartment today after meeting a friend for lunch. I heard sirens, not an uncommon occurrence in any city, but especially not in Philadelphia as of late. As I was about to cross Arch Street, I noticed a procession of police cars, and as I looked around some more, noticed that traffic had been stopped and pedestrians were being stopped from crossing the street. It dawned on me then that today was the day of the funeral for a Philadelphia police officer shot in the line of duty one week ago.

I watched at least 200 cop cars pass, and that was probably not even half of them. It was poignant-- the cars were from all over the southeastern Pennsylvania area as well as New Jersey, New York, and Maryland. And it was sad. And it was poignant to watch his colleagues and comrades turn out from miles away to honor his service and his life.

The man who killed this officer was caught in Miami yesterday and will be extradited to Philadelphia on Friday. He confessed to the murder and he's probably facing a life in prison.

But as I watched more and more cars speed past, I began to get angry. Now, to be clear, I agree that it is a tragedy when a police officer (or any law enforcement civil servant) is killed. But I would also like to point out that when you decide to become a cop, getting killed is always a possibility. It is a dangerous job, especially in a city as plagued by violence and gun crime. It is absolutely awful that this officer was killed. But it is no exaggeration when I say that innocent people are dying EVERY SINGLE DAY in this city because of guns. And they aren't cops. They didn't choose lives or careers that involved carrying a gun or confronting violence head on.

I agree that cops and firefighters are heroes, and that this was an appropriate send-off.

I can't help but think that if the City of Philadelphia spent even half as much effort trying to curb city-wide violence as they did prosecuting the individual who killed one of their own, that maybe, just maybe, this city would be a better place to live.