Have you ever needed a cop? I don’t mean have you ever needed to ask directions or have someone unlock your car for you again. No, I mean have you ever been in a position where you really needed some law enforcement.

For instance, maybe you’ve wanted someone to enforce the law that says other people shouldn’t kill you, or rob you. I have needed a cop before, and let me assure you, it puts a whole different perspective on things.

One day when my youngest step-daughter was 11, she went out to pick berries along the road in front of our house. A teen-aged boy attacked her by pushing her down and ripping her shirt. She broke free and ran to the house screaming. We needed a cop.

We called 911, and within minutes, a police officer was on the scene. He apprehended the boy and was completely professional as he handled the delicate task of questioning a terrified, 11 year-old girl and her frantic mother.

I like law enforcement. Without law enforcement, you can’t enjoy freedom. I like law enforcement officers — especially when I need one.

I recently met with the Mississippi Police Benevolent Association. I’m running for the U.S. Senate, and they were talking to all of the candidates. I was shocked by the things they wanted me to support if I were elected.

They wanted the gun-wielding criminals they catch to be punished according to existing laws. They wanted police officers to earn pay above the official poverty line. They wanted their retirement funds saved — of all things — for retirement benefits. They wanted the rights of due process for any officer about to be fired or suffer from a loss of pay.

Imagine all that. Imagine them having the gall to spend their own time and money to ask for things that they should have been given without having to ask.

In 1998, the Justice Department was alerted 6,000 times of guns being carried onto school grounds. They prosecuted 10 cases. That’s right — 10 out of 6,000. We don’t need any more restrictions on law-abiding gun owners. We just need to lock up some criminals. I don’t expect us to lock up all the bad guys. But, I would like to see us to lock up the ones that the cops catch.

We have police officers in rural areas of Mississippi who qualify for food stamps. Now, that’s a crime. It seems like that would be probable cause for arresting someone in congress.

The money that police officers pay into their retirement fund can be spent by the government on anything at all — it doesn’t have to be used for police retirement benefits. Their retirement funds can be frittered away every year just like the Social Security trust funds have been.

The police officers I met with didn’t share my views on drug prohibition, but they listened politely and were willing to discuss it. Even though we couldn’t agree on what to do about it, we did agree on the goal: keeping as many kids as possible off drugs. But more importantly, that was the only area where we disagreed. The rest of the time we met, we all sat around nodding “yes” at one another over what is painfully obvious.

I’m tired of hearing legislators talk about “the need for new laws” when our courts won’t punish the people who are caught breaking existing laws. I’m embarrassed by the pay and benefits our police officers receive. I’m appalled that they have to ask for any of the common-sense things they’re talking about.

The cops are trying to protect us. We should try to protect them.