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Thrust into national headlines, the usually quiet little Town of Windsor is struggling to cope with the repercussions of not only its police force pulling guns on and pepper-spraying a Black and Latinx Army officer passing through town but also the decisions that were made following the Dec. 5 incident.

We now know that Police Chief Rodney “Dan” Riddle conducted a review and implemented disciplinary action within days of the incident. We also know he released body camera footage to 2nd Lt. Caron Nazario’s lawyer in mid-December. However, it took the actual filing of a lawsuit April 2 and the release of bodycam video of the incident going viral online before the community was made aware of the issue.

It wasn’t until Sunday, April 11, that officer Joe Gutierrez was ultimately fired. Which raised even more questions and further fueled the flames of outrage and anger at home and online.

National media coverage, the internet and social media mean the eyes of the nation are literally upon us. The actions and inactions of our leadership and citizens are going to be followed, dissected and picked apart. That’s a lot of pressure for a small town in the rural south, but it is also the opportunity to step up and get it right. Let us be an example for change in the right direction and not just one more of the way too many who failed miserably to get it right.