Tables were packed Thursday night at the VFW hall in Cape Girardeau as law-enforcement officials were honored at the Evening Optimists' annual Respect for Law dinner and awards ceremony.

In his keynote address, senior special agent David Diveley of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said this is the most chaotic time for law enforcement since the 1960s.

But, he said, speaking for all officers, "We know the dangers ... and we do the best we can."

Diveley, who has been with the ATF since 1988, has spent his entire career in Cape Girardeau and is a member of the bureau's National Response Team. He helped investigate the bombing of the Oklahoma City federal builing in 1995 and has taught explosives in Iraq, Hungary, Guatemala, Peru and El Salvador.

Diveley spoke about several recent violent incidents between citizens and police, from the shooting of Michael Brown by officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri, last summer to the shooting Wednesday of officer Kerrie Orozco in Omaha, Nebraska.

Although in some of these cases, mistakes were made by law enforcement, he said, "there's not an officer in here who wonders, 'Who can we shoot or kill today?'"

Recipients were given the awards by their supervisors.

Receiving awards were deputy U.S. Marshal Cameron Thurier; Missouri State Highway Patrol Cpl. Todd Turlington; Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department Capt. David James; Det. Joe Thomas and Cpl. Jaclyn Kelly, who was promoted this week from patrolman, of the Cape Girardeau Police Department; and Det. Megan Keith of the Jackson Police Department.

Keith was unable to attend the ceremony because she was working on a home-invasion case in Jackson. Accepting the award on her behalf was Respect for Law chairman Leonard Hines.

Hines said he thinks the awards ceremony is "a wonderful program."

"I think it's a time that people need to respect" law enforcement, he said.

kwebster@semissourian.com

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