There’s a reason so many children, when asked what they want to be when they grow up, choose firefighter or police officer. Despite their youth, they have an innate understanding of what should be plainly obvious to adults: public-servants who work jobs that are by-definition dangerous are heroes.

This notion wouldn’t get a rebuttal from the average 4-year-old. They grasp the primal premise that, yes, there are bad actors who harm others for personal gain and, yes, police officers are often the good guys who help.

That basic understanding has been challenged by the false narrative that police officers are quite the opposite. In policing, like in any line of work, there are individuals who are lazy, who don’t care for the people they serve, who abuse the power of their position and who are even racist. But that doesn’t mean the vast majority of the force isn’t precisely what 4-year-olds view them to be: heroic.

The waning defund-the-police movement – the very same folks who call 911 if their home is being broken into – would have had us believe that police as an institution are failing us. That police aren’t heroes. That police are the root of the problems we face. It’s a distorted view promoted by the kind of deep thinkers who graffiti the “ACAB” acronym (“All Cops are Bastards”) on public property in cities like Denver or hashtag it in their online bios and dating profiles.

But for a reality check, look no further than the Lakewood Police Department’s Agent Ashley Ferris. Back in December, the 29-year-old cop stopped an armed gunman at the Belmar Shopping Center in Lakewood after he already had killed five people – and had shot Ferris.

Yet, Ferris – who returned to patrolling the streets of Lakewood this week and spoke publicly to the press for the first time about her harrowing experience – said she didn’t feel like a hero.

Said Ferris, “I didn’t want to let him win. I just stopped the threat. I was angry. Honestly, I was like, ‘How dare he do this?’ “

Her actions that day underscore her bravery:

She had seen a police alert about the shooter and responded by positioning herself at a corner near the shopping center to wait, just in case. As the gunman walked up to her wearing a police vest, she asked if he was private security. She had a gut feeling “this was the guy,” and reacted accordingly. It was the kind of life-or-death, snap decision police wrestle with often – unfathomable to most civilians. She engaged, taking a bullet to the stomach before killing the shooter with a shot of her own as she fell to the ground, bleeding.

Selfless courage – risking all for her community. That’s police work at its best. We are all safer for it, and we owe our cops a debt of gratitude.

Denver Gazette editorial board