Every so often, the Star Tribune publishes the local police departments’ blotters.

They’re sometimes hilarious (like the call about a “suspicious person with a screwdriver lurking near the ATM” who turned out to be a repairman). But more often than not they paint a vivid picture of the soft, pink underbelly of society.

I have no idea how cops can go out there every day and face the sheer stupidity of the driving-while-intoxicated, crack-smoking, first-degree-assaulting, gun-brandishing, toilet-paper-hurling public. But I’m really glad they do.

So here’s my salute to cops, in the form of some collected newspaper clippings. Enjoy!