Tribute to Michael Briggs

This profile was made at Whateverlife.com! :)The citizens of a safe city will always take their safety for granted. Yet safety and security are not natural states; they are achieved at great cost.In Manchester, more than 200 police officers do the dangerous work of enforcing the laws of the city. They are men and women who volunteer to protect the rest of us from those who would do people and property great harm if left unrestrained.Officer Michael Briggs was, by all accounts, a star of Manchester's force. Friends and fellow officers describe him as kind, generous, friendly, caring, loyal and courageous. Among the hundreds of outstanding officers who patrol the city, Briggs, a decorated former Marine, stood out.On July 25, 2004, Briggs was one of four officers who rushed into a burning apartment building and rescued its 19 residents. Among those he saved were a teenager, blind and confined to a wheelchair, and the elderly woman who cared for her.For his heroism that July night, Briggs received the Union Leader's New Hampshire Hero Award and, on Oct. 16, 2005, the Congressional Law Enforcement Award. A year later to the day, while responding to a domestic violence call in central Manchester, he was shot in the head, allegedly by a career criminal he had arrested four years earlier. It was 2:45 a.m. He had only 15 minutes left on his shift.Briggs, a bona fide hero with the medals to prove it, was not just an action hero. He was also a gentle, caring soul whose empathy turned lives around. Among the tributes to him from readers is an e-mail from a woman he once arrested, reprinted in the first column on this page."He was one of the nicest people I had ever met," Jessica Burbank wrote. "He made me see my wrong and I haven't gotten in trouble since. I respect him greatly."Michael Briggs was the kind of hero who chased down bad guys and rushed into burning buildings. He was also the kind who gently did his best to improve the lives of those who needed direction, whether they were boys on the Little League team he coached or criminals he encountered on his late-night patrols through the city.Each and every night, the residents of Manchester lie sleeping in their beds as heroes like Michael Briggs walk the dark streets. Briggs risked his life, venturing into the unknown, so that we could let down our own defenses and sleep in peace and comfort.Michael Briggs died defending the people of Manchester, almost all of whom he never knew, from violent predators who seek victims under the cover of darkness. We owe him an unpayable debt.As we mourn his loss, let us make sure that Michael Briggs is never forgotten. Let us, in his memory, make this city safe again.