“I can remember plain as day. … I can hear the shot. I can see the muzzle flash. This all happened so quick.”

Pittsburgh Police Officer Daniel Mead testified during the trial of Robert Bowers recently. Bowers, the alleged gunman charged with 11 federal hate crimes resulting in death for the shooting at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue, could face the death penalty if convicted, the Associated Press reported in an article in the weekend edition of the Sun-Gazette.

The trial is a chilling reminder of the capacity for evil within some men and women. But it is also a reminder of something more constructive — that as a society we need to support our law enforcement.

We need to adequately fund and equip police departments and law enforcement agencies not only to respond to these tragedies as they happen, but to be proactive in investigating terrorists — which is what, if the allegations are proven true, Bowers would be — and preventing these tragedies before they happen.

During this trial prosecutors have alleged that Bowers displayed a pattern of incendiary and dehumanizing rhetoric about our Jewish neighbors, friends and family online.

We believe investigators need adequate and ever-evolving training to identify and monitor such alleged threats, both online and in other places. While we recognize that life in a free society comes with risks, we also believe we can do more to empower law enforcement to mitigate those risks.

We can do more to assist our police in disrupting the violent and hateful among us from completing their plots and spreading tragedy.

— Williamsport Sun-Gazette