It’s hard to overstate the significance of the work that four Suffolk Police Department officers were honored for recently by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia — Norfolk Division.

The reason it’s hard to overstate is simple: there’s no way to know how devastating the consequences would have been if these four officers had not done their duties to the best of their abilities.

The work by Suffolk Police Officer Jay Burton, Suffolk Police Officer James Brooks (now with Virginia State Police), Suffolk Police Capt. Cassandra Garvin and Suffolk Police Detective Rachelann Cain helped take multiple very dangerous criminals off the streets — not just your everyday petty criminals but a multi-state methamphetamine distribution ring and a would-be terrorist who was cut down before he could carry out a deadly act.

Burton, Brooks and Garvin worked together with seven others on a case that involved methamphetamine distribution. Two convicted drug traffickers who were incarcerated together got back into their illicit business together after their release, with one supplying the other with drugs from California and the second selling it on the streets of South Hampton Roads.

At least four people were eventually taken off the streets and sentenced to multiple years of imprisonment thanks to the work of Burton, Brooks, Garvin and others.

This space has already seen praise of Cain following her award last year as Suffolk Police Department Officer of the Year and Suffolk’s “Top Cop” for the annual Crime Line awards. But it bears repeating. Cain and seven others, as part of the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force, arrested a would-be terrorist who was living in Suffolk and believed he was helping finance international terrorism. He was planning a local terror attack when he was arrested in December 2016. There’s no telling when, where or how that attack might have played out or how many might have lost their lives. But we’re grateful that we’ll never know those details.

These four officers received the 2018 Law Enforcement Public Service Award from the U.S. Attorney’s Office on May 2 at the Slover Library in Norfolk. We think these awards are beyond well-deserved and thank these officers profusely for their hard work on behalf of the citizens of Suffolk.