There’s a new sheriff in town.

Judge Eric Linhardt administered the oath of office to newly-elected Lycoming County Sheriff Eric Spiegel recently. Spiegel chose to run for the county position when former Sheriff Mark Lusk chose to retire.

Spiegel said, as the Sun-Gazette reported in Tuesday’s edition, that he intends to build on the hard work of Lusk and former Sheriff Charles Brewer.

We are optimistic that Sheriff Spiegel and his sheriff’s deputies will continue to perform the roles that county sheriff’s departments in Pennsylvania fulfill.

But, as we’ve often noted in our editorials, the work of law enforcement can be easier and more effective at keeping Lycoming County’s streets safe with the public’s support.

Police officers and law enforcement too often encounter resistance and silence. Witnesses to crimes and criminal conduct are too infrequently forthcoming.

Police and prosecutors over the years have noted the damage this resistance inflicts on their ability to convict and punish criminals and deter crime.

We hope our neighbors who embrace this uncooperative philosophy can, at long last, recognize the impact it has on our communities and neighborhoods and on our families and lives.

We further hope that everyone in our communities can recognize the critical role police play in society — and that support for police and first responders is one of the factors every man and woman contemplates as they cast ballots in all elections — federal, state and local.

We ask too much of our police — and the stakes of what we ask are too high — to not provide police departments and law enforcement agencies with the tools they need to safely do their jobs or to not cooperate when we have information that can help resolve an investigation.

In 2026 and beyond, we must support our police.