Won't you be our neighbor?

The Indiana Daily Student reported Friday that Morgan Quitno, a private research and publishing company, rated Bloomington the 25th safest metropolitan area in the United States. \nWe'd like to take the opportunity, because it prevented itself, to say: "Good job, Bloomington." \nBut it goes deeper than that. Bloomington is made what it is by the sum of its parts -- the citizens, the University and the community. Bloomington is a wonderful place to live. But not every great city is a safe city. For that, we'd like to thank the police officers, firefighters and other civil servants who work hard to make life in Bloomington just a little safer.\nAs students, we tend to have a rather contentious relationship with local law enforcement. Nobody likes speeding tickets or underage drinking citations, and we're the first ones to call civil servants out when the job isn't done properly or boundaries are overstepped. But it's often a thankless job, and this ranking is the sort of thing we think validates their long hours, stressful working conditions and undertaking of risk. They might not put their lives on the line every single day, but when duty calls, they're there.\nWe're not advocating a self-satisfied contentment -- the maintenance of a community is hard work. But this little nod makes us appreciate our work.\nBloomington Police Department Captain Mike Diekhoff said it best: "Bloomington is a safe city because of the nature and makeup of our community." We'd like to think so, too. When we all work together, good things happen.