Last week we wrote about Sgt. Mark Chaney, who retired after 32 years with the Troup County Sheriff’s Department.

Chaney’s last day was a week ago today, and it was also his 55th birthday. We can’t imagine a more fitting way to go out than Chaney did, celebrating retirement with friends, family and co-workers while pairing it with his birthday.

At the retirement ceremony, Chaney’s co-workers told stories of his work, giving a behind the scenes look at the man who dedicated more than three decades of his life to law enforcement.

There were funny moments and some stories that showed the passion he had for his job.

There were also many eye-opening moments, like when Chaney’s wife Donna talked of all of the times her husband came home, covered in sweat and his clothes torn, only to quickly change and head back out.

Moments like that probably happen well more than most of us on the outside looking in can imagine.

That’s why it’s important for us to treat law enforcement officers with respect and understand that they are just trying to do their jobs when they pull us over.

A quick look through the police reports will tell you everything you need to know about what police officers have to deal with, and the list of scenarios they are tasked to handle seems to grow every day.

Over the last few years, there’s been a lot of debate about incidents around the country involving police officers, putting a lot of focus on policing in general. It’s important to remember there are “bad” people in every profession, whether that be journalists, teachers, doctors or police officers, but the majority of the men and women on the police force are just trying to do their jobs and get home to spend time with their families — just like the rest of us.

We can’t speak from personal experience, but from hearing his co-workers and family speak of him, it seems safe to say Chaney is one of the good guys.

He worked in patrol and in the school system for the majority of his time on the force, and we’re sure he made a real difference in the lives of many people in this community.

It’s been a week now, but we hope that Chaney’s retirement is going well. We want to wish him the best of luck moving forward and thank him for his years of service to this community.