Someone mentioned the other day that we're fortunate to have good police protection in our communities.

It's true. We have some very good police.Still, I sometimes think they're underappreciated.Journalists see the great job they do on a frequent basis.We see police at work at crash scenes, drug raids, arraignments and arrests. We see them when we pick up daily police logs. We interact with them quite a bit.If you spend time with an on-duty cop, you'll gain renewed respect instantly. Police have one of the toughest jobs around.They're heroes on a daily basis.And their job is vital because they look out for our protection in a world that's largely imperfect.This got me to thinking about how life might be different if things were perfect.In a perfect world, there'd be no crime. There'd be no need for laws and there'd be no injustice. We'd have no need for jails, either.Of course, that would provide a big savings on taxes. But then, in a perfect world, we wouldn't have taxes.At home, all appliances and televisions would be completely cordless.Electricity would be delivered invisibly. It'd travel through airwaves similar to the beam of a TV remote control.In a perfect world, health care services would be free, top-quality and readily available.Doctors would treat patients as they walk in the door. There'd be no wait.On the other hand, maybe there'd be no sickness in a perfect world.In that case, doctors could live out their natural lives on a golf course.In a perfect world, money problems wouldn't exist.Everybody would live similar to Donald Trump. Truthfully, I've never been able to figure him out.He can declare bankruptcy one day and then fly off in his own private jet the next.Or course, in a perfect world, nobody would have a hairdo like Trump.A perfect world would affect our belief systems, too.People would respect all beliefs, no matter what. Actually, in a perfect world, religion would be a force to unite us instead of divide us. Or maybe it wouldn't exist at all.Beatle John Lennon had the same idea. He sang about a perfect world and challenged us to "Imagine no religion."If things were perfect, all adults would enjoy equal rights. We're making progress there. For instance, the Supreme Court likely will declare marriage equality in June, a long-overdue move.But even that doesn't achieve perfection. There are still folks who believe equal rights in America are intended for some citizens but not others.In a perfect world, all communications would be fast and efficient.All computers would operate flawlessly. There'd be no such thing as a Mailer Daemon.What exactly is a Mailer Daemon anyway? Sounds like a spooky character from a Stephen King novel.In a perfect world, gas would be 25 cents a gallon.Better still, there'd be no need for gas. Cars would run on air. And travelers would fly without boarding planes.They'd simply strap on a jet pack and push a button to zoom to wherever they want to go.I think the Jetsons were honing in on this idea back in the 1960s.It's fun to think how much different the world would be if things were perfect.It'll never happen, of course. Society will always be imperfect.We're exposed to some very bad things each day.And there will always be unfairness, injustice and crime.Lucky for us, there will always be police, too. Police, in essence, are a step toward a perfect world.Jan. 9 was Law Enforcement Appreciation Day.That's nice. But we need to appreciate police every day, not just on Jan. 9.So be sure thank police officers whenever you get a chance.They do their best to protect us from a world inherently unsafe.They look out for us even when we don't realize it.A cop might just be the best friend we have.