A pair of stories in the Suffolk News-Herald the last week or so has demonstrated the many roles and responsibilities of our local law enforcement, their collective servant’s heart and how dangerous their jobs can be, even when they’re not directly encountering anyone who wishes them ill.

On Jan. 13, we ran a story about Isle of Wight Sheriff’s Deputy Jeremy Hall, who was called to the home of an elderly couple who did not have heat in the middle of frigid weather.

After his original visit, he went and purchased a space heater and two heating blankets with his own money and took them to the couple’s home. He refused payment for the items.

“I’d want somebody to do something if it was my grandparents,” Hall later told the News-Herald.

The items kept the couple — Katie Boutwell, 79, and Ken Boutwell, 88 — warm until their heat was fixed, they said last week.

Hall didn’t seek any recognition for what he had done, either. It wasn’t until the couple called his boss, Sheriff Mark Marshall, and thanked him that anyone found out.

“I’m just glad I was in the right place at the right time,” Hall said last week.

This week, we ran an entirely different story. This time, it was about an Isle of Wight County sheriff’s deputy who was involved in a crash on the James River Bridge while attempting to respond to another crash on the bridge.

The deputy was headed north on the bridge with his emergency equipment activated when he attempted a U-turn at an emergency access point near the draw bridge to respond to the accident on the southbound side. He was struck by two vehicles but, fortunately, received only minor injuries.

The deputy was — you guessed it — Jeremy Hall.

These stories highlight some of the many roles our local law enforcement play in the course of their duties. They are asked to be all things to all people, and they do it in the face of danger from both malicious and accidental sources.

We are glad Deputy Hall is recovering from his injuries, and we thank him and all of his colleagues in Hampton Roads law enforcement for their tireless work protecting us.