It isn’t often that we get a look into the world of what goes on behind the stories in the police log, but this week we got a glimpse of it with the announcement that Detective Greg Newman was commended for his work in helping to apprehend an Acton drug dealer.

We often take the police for granted, assured that they will always be there to direct traffic details or take our calls about suspicious goings-on in town, but we are often oblivious to the many times and ways in which they put themselves in harm’s way for us. Almost any one of the items we see in the police log each week could turn deadly—a car chase, an attempted burglary, a domestic violence incident, even a traffic stop. Certainly, the world of drug dealers presents its own unique dangers.

Behind the scenes, painstaking work goes on to track down criminals—yes, even in Harvard—and to build cases that will stick in court. Police endure not only the danger inherent in their jobs, but also the frustration of seeing their hard work evaporate when cases are dismissed on technicalities or when light sentences imposed by the courts embolden criminals to repeat their misdeeds.

The Acton case is one that did not evaporate, due in part to Detective Newman’s diligent behind-the-scenes work. We applaud him for his role in helping the Acton police put a drug dealer behind bars, and we applaud the rest of the Harvard Police Department for the many ways in which they work to keep us safe.