Two stories from the police log this week really made us sit up and take notice. The first was the death of the truck driver on icy I-495 last Friday. It happened so fast—on a road many Harvard residents travel daily—and the decision the driver made that took his own life probably saved the lives of the people he swerved to avoid.

The second was the road-rage incident, where the intended victim, a Harvard resident, pulled into the police station to escape his pursuer. How many times has that aggression-feedback-violence pattern repeated itself?

Those stories remind residents that our police force faces situations that the police log only hints at.

Our police were first responders at that fatal accident, and someone has the memories to prove it. If the pursuer had followed the pursued into the police station, someone would have dealt with it. It’s reassuring to know that residents have a “base” they can retreat to in times of danger.

Every time police officers stop an unknown driver, they have to expect ... anything.

We know that residents enjoy reading the police log, and we know that it can be entertaining, but we also know that the police are a line of defense when we need it. So we thank the police department, including the dispatchers, for their work on the town’s behalf.