La Crosse police react to Des Moines officers being ambushed and gunned down

One officer a 10-year vet, the other in his first year on job

The dangers of being a police officer on the street are on full display this week, after the shooting deaths of two Des Moines, Iowa area officers.

Gunned down, apparently in their squad cars. Ambushed and shot to death. One officer a 10-year veteran. The other, just a year in.

“It’s an occupation that’s highly unpredictable,” La Crosse police captain Jason Melby said. “Where if you let down your guard, or even if you don’t let down your guard, you can be a victim of an attack at any time, simply because you’re a cop.”

Scott Michael Greene, a 46-year-old, was taken into custody in relation to the killings.

Police say weeks before the killings, Greene had been thrown out of a high school football game by police for apparently being disruptive while waving a confederate flag during the National Anthem.

None of it what Melby expected to be hearing about when he first became a cop.

“I got in back in ’95. At that time, you were just there to do a job. You were aware of some of the dangers but for the most part it wasn’t like it is today.

Now, however, it’s front and center.

“You can tell that the guys are aware of it,” Melby said. “You can tell that the general discussion of being a target of attack is a topic of discussion at times. But I think you’ll find that a lot of our officers aren’t going to dwell on it. But it’s there.”