Are you considered to be an ethical person by your friends? Do they believe that you would do the right thing, even if it meant the possible punishment of a loved one, as a result of their having committed criminal acts?

Two former lawmen evidently possess these attributes-David Brown, former police chief of Dallas, Texas and John Cook, a former agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The actions of these two lawmen in the face of the deaths of their children by the legal institution they were sworn to uphold, cause many to question their loyalty to a job, and more particularly, their personal faith in God.

As I said in a previous column, we all wish for the strength of Abraham when he was asked by God to sacrifice his only son.

Very few parents, however would be able to drink from the cup that Abraham was prepared to drink. He represents the personification of having faith and believing in God.

John Cook, an FBI agent with

the faith of Abraham

In 1995, two Mercer University young people made a decision to park in an area called Lake Juliette, not too far from Macon, Georgia that cost them their lives. They were killed by Cook’s son, David. He confessed to his father that he had killed the couple. Cook knew that the son must face the consequences of his actions and this God-fearing agent became a witness for the prosecution. On February 21, 2013, David Allen Cook was taken to the State of Georgia’s death chamber and pronounced dead.

David Brown, lawman with a son who killed a cop

He began his career in law enforcement to destroy the strangle hold that crack-cocaine had on cities across America. He rose to the position of police chief in 2010 of the Dallas, Texas police department that was not known to be amicable to blacks.

He was thrust on the national scene in 2016 for the professional manner in which he handled the killing of five city officers in Dallas by a sniper. A surfeit of woes, however, followed this lawman. His younger brother was killed by drug dealers, and six years before the sniper attack, his son, David, was shot multiple times by the police for killing two people — one of whom was a cop.

David Brown, basically an introvert, stood tall through it all, and put aside his own anguish. He met with family members of the murder victims and apologized for his son’s murderous acts. He was not necessarily liked by his senior officers who considered him to be unapproachable and aloof. This is a man, who before retiring, to some, appeared void of emotions related to the death of his son.

John Cook and David Brown are special-they appear to believe that a person should always do what is ethically correct, even in the face of family tragedies.

Dr. Glenn Dowell is an author and columnist who currently lives in Jonesboro, Georgia. He has been a guest speaker on major college campuses, including having appeared on TV programs such as the Oprah Winfrey Show. He may be reached at gdowell@live.com.