All to often — as we mumble under our breaths when we spot them hiding along the road watching for speeders or directing traffic in a manner not to our liking — we forget the burden of responsibility we ask law enforcement officers to put on each day along with their uniforms.

And then events such as last week’s bank robbery and subsequent fatal shooting of the suspect provide us with stark reminders that the men and women we entrust with enforcing the law really do face the daunting task of making life and death decisions as part of their jobs.

It is a responsibility few of us would welcome; one many of us would be ill prepared to shoulder.

As part of their obligation to “protect and serve,” officers of the law know full well that in doing their duty they put their own lives at risk, and at times face the solemn prospect of having to take the life of another.

Those responding to the public’s call know that every domestic disturbance, every drunk driver, every high speed chase, every call to a darkened neighborhood in the middle of the night, carries with it the potential for a life-threatening interaction.

That is the burden they willingly assume when they put on the badge each day, knowing as they do that the general public has little regard for the tremendous burden of responsibility that goes along with the job.

We ask much of those we task with keeping the law and protecting the public. Too often we fail to acknowledge just how much it is that we expect of them.